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The phrase “Wait broke the wagon” is a mantra for those of us who may have knowingly or unknowingly adopted the attitude of David Glasgow Farragut, a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy. He is remembered for his order at the Battle of Mobile Bay usually paraphrased as “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead” in U.S. Navy tradition.
As a precocious young man, patience was not a virtue of mine. As I warred with conquering my physical and mental environments, I regularly possessed an impervious attitude when I heard the phrases “everything takes time,” “have a little patience,” “it will work itself out.” I always felt that time was of the essence; I really believed in the phrase “wait broke the wagon.”
Sometimes, in my quest to make things happen, I disregarded sage advice. My desire to escape my physical environment pressed heavily on my desire to feed my intellectual environment. I learned many lessons both positive and negative as I bumped my head up against the brick walls of societal disregard for my mental and physical wellbeing.
Many things that I was visually exposed to were diametrically opposed to what I was taught and what I believed; these atrocities were in a perpetual battle with my intrinsic visions of what life, should, is, and was supposed to be. These visions were enhanced by my parents, my caregivers, the community village and my educational angels, yes, my educational angels, they exposed me to worlds that I had only viewed via television and/or dreamed about, they empowered me to know, not to think that my present world was indeed temporary and that through perseverance, personal sacrifices, and the will to reach for the stars I could and would achieve.
The illumination of our starlit skies grasps our imaginations as we move full steam ahead, without prior, present and post knowledge to navigate the oceans and their invisible swells. The gravity of life manifests itself in a multiplicity of ways, ways in which we in our behest to “Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead” have no clue as to what lies beneath what seems to be a quiet body of water, unfortunately not realizing the power that it yields, the devastation that it is capable of causing.
This anachronism to “Damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead” sound heroic in theory. However, it is misleading as it pertains to ensuring that one is prepared for the task he/she is desirous of while embracing this quaint little colloquialism, “Wait broke the wagon.”
© 2018 Melvin “Casey” Lars
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