Ruth recently got a Dora the Explorer pillow kit to make together with Sophia. Sophia, being terribly enamored of both Dora and sewing, could barely contain herself. In fact she couldn't. Ruth was busy for a while and told Sophia that they'd do the kit in a little while, which for a two you old may as well be when hell freezes over. So Sophia ever so discreetly goes to the table, opens the pillow kit, finds the sewing scissors (even though they were quite well hidden) and proceeds to start cutting out the Dora pillow. She is pretty god with scissors (Ruth occasionally lets her use them under close supervision), but not so skilled at cutting along lines. Consequently she created a long jagged cut across the center of the panel of fabric, basically ruining it. No real harm was done, and Ruth is easily a good enough seamstress to repair the damage. It did however get me to thinking; Sophia in her enthusiasm to make the kit failed to understand that her skill level was not equal to the task. She understood what she needed to do first, use the scissors, but she didn't understand that she didn't know how.
Only a doting parent applies every little thing that their kid does to greater life lessons, so I am clearly guilty of that, please forgive me. But it struck me how many people in places of leadership (or at least in the public eye) fail to understand that they don't know how to fill the roles that they so desperately want to be elected to. My politics may be showing through here, but it strikes me that Mrs. Sarah Palin is right at the top of this list, followed closely by the likes of Rand Paul, Christine O'Donnell, and basically anyone who considers themselves a "Tea Partier."
I'm not generally speaking, one to criticize others without at least a modicum of self-examination. It could easily be said that I run Ruth's and my websites as though I think I know more about it than I do. Also the drivel that I write and mediocre photos I post imply a level of expertise that is almost certainly not justified. However, I never told anyone to follow me, to elect me, to listen to my leadership, or to "not retreat, but reload" (paraphrasing Mrs. Palin). The difference between me and Sophia and those "political leaders" (please note the ironic quotes) is that even though we may not know what were doing, we aren't leading others into following our delusions.