The Truth in Old Adages

“A stitch in time saves nine”, says an old saying. When I was a youngster my mother and her family elevated this short, six-word sentence to the level of a religious proverb. As Grandpa Frank (I had a Grandpa Frank and a Grandpa Abe but their wives were Grandma and Granny, go figure) collected the necessary accouterments to change the oil in his pick-up he would answer our question why by saying, “Well, ya know …

…Don’t wait until it becomes impossible to fix (like my old GTO) or until the task became Herculean (like cleaning up after the party) but do it now and save your self nine times the work! That was the true meaning of the saying. And given this meaning, do the small jobs as they occur to avoid having to do the larger jobs later, the above examples prove that the old saying is true.