Ships Ahoy!
I read this passage recently and I felt it to be a good analogy for various circumstances in life. It is written by Frank Koch in Proceedings, a magazine of the Naval Institute.
Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers n heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.
Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.”
“Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out.
Lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.”
Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.”
The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.”
“I’m a seaman second class,” came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees.”
By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees.”
Back came the flashing light, “I’m a lighthouse.”
We changed course.
Metaphors and analogies aside, it is a nicely written [very] short prose. It builds up into a climax and is a pleasurable read, despite its brevity. The moral of the story can be incorporated into so many different situations such as never judging a thing for its outward appearance, humility ROCKS arrogance NOT ALWAYS GOOD, always look at the bigger picture and not be hampered by your own limited visibility, I can go on…to each his own. Nonetheless, I thought I’d put it here to share.
On a lighter note, it always pays to invest in real-estate and not those fancy cars/boats.
Two battleships assigned to the training squadron had been at sea on maneuvers n heavy weather for several days. I was serving on the lead battleship and was on watch on the bridge as night fell. The visibility was poor with patchy fog, so the captain remained on the bridge keeping an eye on all activities.
Shortly after dark, the lookout on the wing of the bridge reported, “Light, bearing on the starboard bow.”
“Is it steady or moving astern?” the captain called out.
Lookout replied, “Steady, captain,” which meant we were on a dangerous collision course with that ship.
The captain then called to the signalman, “Signal that ship: We are on a collision course, advise you change course 20 degrees.”
Back came a signal, “Advisable for you to change course 20 degrees.”
The captain said, “Send, I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.”
“I’m a seaman second class,” came the reply. “You had better change course 20 degrees.”
By that time, the captain was furious. He spat out, “Send, I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees.”
Back came the flashing light, “I’m a lighthouse.”
We changed course.
Metaphors and analogies aside, it is a nicely written [very] short prose. It builds up into a climax and is a pleasurable read, despite its brevity. The moral of the story can be incorporated into so many different situations such as never judging a thing for its outward appearance, humility ROCKS arrogance NOT ALWAYS GOOD, always look at the bigger picture and not be hampered by your own limited visibility, I can go on…to each his own. Nonetheless, I thought I’d put it here to share.
On a lighter note, it always pays to invest in real-estate and not those fancy cars/boats.
