Saturday, January 23, 2010

What He Said

Kevin (The Smallest Minority Kevin) links to and quotes Kipling's The Sons of Martha. I'd read it before and it always hits home: me, I'm one of her daughters:

"It is their care in all the ages to take the buffet and
cushion the shock.
"It is their care that the gear engages; it is their care that
the switches lock."

and
"They finger death at their gloves' end where they piece
and repiece the living wires.
"He rears against the gates they tend: they feed him hungry
behind their fires."

Yeah. But remember, dammit, I don't do it for you, I do it because that's how I'm made. That it happens to yank your irons outta the fire is merely a side-effect...one Mary's sons take for granted.
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4 comments:

  1. StrangerJanuary 23, 2010 at 12:52 PM

    A good quote. There are a lot of us who do things that must be done, even at the risk of our own skins.

    We generally get about as much appreciation as Kipling's Tommy - and about as much reward as Rab Burn's "wee beastie." That is, a kick in the head.

    And I am sure that you are another with the scars to show for it. But who cares about scars. "The Roads Must Roll."

    Stranger

    ReplyDelete
  2. New Jovian ThunderboltJanuary 23, 2010 at 1:16 PM

    "An engineer is a professional that uses math and science to solve problems for the good of mankind."

    ReplyDelete
  3. Roberta XJanuary 23, 2010 at 1:54 PM

    ...Really? I thought it was just 'cos solving problems is kewl. Also, people pay you for it.
    ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousJanuary 23, 2010 at 11:44 PM

    Funny how many occupations can Kipple to good effect.

    Jim

    ReplyDelete

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