While in North Carolina for military training as a youth, I was bored with the hum-drum barracks life, so I went to the beach. While walking in the tidal plains, I hit upon capturing some sand fleas in a short jar.
They were easy to catch as they jumped into the glass prison willingly. All I had to do was leave it open, and before long, I had dozens locked under the screw-down lid.
Once back at the barracks, I set my mini-menagerie on my desk and left them for three. Then I took them outside and opened the jar.
Not one of the damned things leaped high enough to escape their captivity. It only took about three days to retrain their thinking that they could go no higher than the lip level of the jar.
On that day, as I turned the jar upside down and freed my small experiment subjects, I decided I would never be like a sand flea, reconditioned and trapped by someone else’s enforced belief system. And while it hasn’t always worked out when I recognize the trap, I know it is time to think outside the jar.
The Old Blog in the Desert 