By Michael Avery
Recently, I was recalling how my mom used to cut the ends off the bacon when my brother and I were growing up. When I asked her about this, she replied that it was the way she’d always done it. It was how her own mother had done it when she was growing up. When we discovered the reason why my grandmother always cut the ends off the bacon, my mom and I had a good laugh. I wrote a parable one day to share the lesson we learned from the experience with others.
Dorinda lived in a small cottage at the edge of the forest. She loved all the animals, but especially the gophers because they had such refreshing ideas.
One morning Dorinda watched her mother preparing breakfast. Very carefully she cut both ends off the bacon before putting it in the large frying pan. “Why do you always cut the ends off the bacon, Mother?” Dorinda asked. “There’s still so much room in the pan.”
“This is the way we’ve always cooked bacon, dear. It’s the proper way.”
Dorinda shook her head. “It seems like such a waste!” she exclaimed.
“Why, you’ve been listening to those gophers again, haven’t you?” her mother cried. “I thought I told you to stay away from their kind. They have such strange ideas.”
The following Sunday, Dorinda visited her grandmother’s house and helped with the breakfast. Very carefully Dorinda cut off both ends off the bacon as her mother had done. “Why do we always cut the ends off the bacon, Grandmother?” she asked.
“Why, it’s the way we’ve always cooked bacon, dear. It’s the proper way.” She reached down and took out a tiny pan. “And besides, it’s the only way it will fit in the pan.”
“Grandmother, Dorinda observed, “if you would buy a bigger pan you wouldn’t have to cut the ends off the bacon. You would save money.”
Dorinda’s grandmother turned on her. “It sounds like you’ve been listening to those gophers again. It’s no wonder things are in such a mess today. You mark my word, those gophers would undermine the whole world is they thought they could get away with it.”
From Porcupines at the Dance, pp. 93-94
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