Life is not fair. It’s not fair on land, and it’s not fair on the great blue sea.
A few days ago I went beach fishing with my nephews. It was a fun time, but to be honest, I didn’t intend it to be a family outing. For a couple months I had been looking forward to a serene solo trip with me, my sandspikes, my rod and reels, and the hazy sky above. But that plan never got off the ground. As soon as my nephews heard that I was fishing, and had extra rods, they decided they were coming too. Move over uncle.
Sure enough, neither knew how to tie a hook, bait a hook, or cast a rod. So I quickly became the impatient Boy Scout leader, dancing between tangled poles, watching my rigs dangle in the sand and my bait go to the birds. To my left and my right lines flew like silly string.
Thankfully I still had one rod in my possession. And I was looking forward to catching something big. Let me show you how it’s done boys. Out I went into the choppy surf and cast my line as far as it could go. There are few things as pleasurable as watching a four ounce egg sinker soar a hundred yards out and make a pleasant plunk beyond the breakers.
With my two leprechauns beside me we waited. Or we tried to wait. The problem is that waiting is one of the acquired tastes in fishing. And little boys do not have it. As soon as they cast they reeled it in. At some point in the afternoon I resigned myself to this slapdash style of fishing and let them do whatever they wanted.
Before we turned in for the day we each made one final cast. I sent mine clear into the deep, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as my nephew flubbed his into the shallows. Oh dear, I thought.
Well, here is the final irony: lightning hit his rod, not mine. I watched in astonishment as his line zagged with the biggest catch of the day and mine kept waiting, dry as a bone.
I had to smile. The moral is that in fishing as in life sometimes the farthest cast is not the cast that catches the fish. Sometimes you get showed up by the kid who’s never cast a rod in his life, who just happens to put his hook in the water at the right time and the right place.
When this happens you pack your bags, swallow your pride and say congrats kid, you beat me fair and square today.
show & tell 