THOSE THAT FAIL TO LEARN FROM HISTORY...

 

I first heard Winston Churchill’s quote, "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it," in a Nickelodeon show: Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn. Thank you quadruplets for all the amazing childhood memories!

I once heard of the experience of a family plagued by the unwelcome visit of a four-legged creature—a rat! They wouldn’t tolerate such audacity and insolence, and so they took extreme measures to eliminate it. I'm talking explosives, gun powder, and ammunition!

Just kidding, they used a mouse trap (one of those sticky boards that catch rats). The funny thing about the mouse trap was that it did all but catch the rat. The next morning, one of the children (Tony) walked past the mouse trap and found a wall gecko in the trap! (Don’t even ask me how it got into the mouse trap; wasn’t it meant to be on the wall or something, as indicated in its name?)

Tony sympathized with the wall gecko but was pleased that the mouse trap was getting rid of the other creatures that had been living rent-free in their house! Not too long after, Tony walked past the mouse trap and saw another wall gecko. "Ah!" He was becoming really confused; he just couldn’t wrap his head around the entire thing. As if two wall geckos weren’t enough, a third one made its way to the mouse trap! This time, Tony’s confusion gave way to concern. If those wall geckos kept up, there would be no space on the mouse trap for the mouse when it finally wandered into the trap.

From this true-life story, multiple story lines of what might have happened came to mind. I’ll share one in this blog post.

The wall gecko was probably going about its business when its eye caught sight of the mouth-watering fish in the middle of the board. Looking left and right, it reached for the bait but discovered too late that it was a trap.

A few hours later, another wall gecko came passing by. "Be careful not to move too close to the board." The first wall gecko warned.

"Nonsense! Don’t you see that amazing piece of fish lying in the middle? It’s calling out to me!" The second wall gecko responded, moving closer to the board.

"If you come on it, you’ll be stuck, just like me." The first one admonished

No, I won’t; I’m far smarter than you are! I’ll speed in and speed out. Easy peasy." The second wall gecko replied, racing into the mouse trap.

Caught in the trap, it screamed, "I’m stuck! Please help me."

Unwilling to sympathize with the second wall gecko, the first one responded flatly, "I warned you."

The third wall gecko showed up while they were asleep; being one of the fastest in their community, it was sure it could pull off the trick the others had failed to pull off.

Speeding onto the board, it was faced with the same plight: stuck and with no hope of help. The others woke up to a new roommate, but all were silent because making fun of each other would give them no comfort.

This little anecdote that popped up in my mind takes us back to the words of Winston Churchill. "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

As good as it is to discover things for yourself, why fall into a ditch you can avoid? Why make a life-altering mistake when you don’t have to? Why go into a social vice when those who have tried it are stuck? We often forget that one of the greatest gifts history gives us is the opportunity to learn from the mistakes of others.

If the second and third wall geckos had learned from the mistake of the first, who knows if they’d still be roaming around free in Tony's house!

N.B. Tony is a pseudonym, although he represents an actual character. I won’t include the actual names of anyone in my blog posts without first getting permission.