tool

to͞ol/

noun

noun: tool; plural noun: tools

1. a device or implement, especially one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function.”gardening tools”
2. a distinct design in the tooling of a book.
   • a small stamp or roller used to make a tooled design.
3. vulgar slang
   a man’s penis.
   • a stupid, irritating, or contemptible man.”that guy is such a tool”

Urban Dictionary defines tool as:

“a guy with a hugely over-inflated ego, who in an attempt to get un-due attention for himself, will act like a jackass, because, in his deluded state, he will think it’s going to make him look cool, or make others want to be like him. The person may even insincerely apologize later on, but only in an attempt to get more attention, or to excuse his blatantly intentional, and unrepentantly tool-ish behavior.”

So this first Tuesdays’ Tool of 2018 goes out to all the tools that don’t know they’re tools. This is not an exclusionary statement. Personally I look back and consider the possibility that I have been a tool in the past on more than one occasion. Or in the least, interpreted as one by one or more people in a group. If I was, I certainly didn’t know it. In fact, I can’t imagine a self-aware tool. I would think a self-aware tool is actually a dick, or a prick, perhaps even a cock.

Tricky Dicky

Prickly Porcupine

Cock of the Walk

Looking back, I’m sure we all share memories of behaviors we’re none too proud of. Even our thoughts or sentiments shared might be considered dickish, prickish, or rooted in undeserving cockiness. But now, these days, older, hopefully wiser, we can offer empathy to others; we can feel another’s plight.

And that’s the important step in not being a tool. Feeling. Empathy. Coming to terms with the concrete concept that I am not the star of my movie ALL the time. Perhaps willfully step into the background to let someone else take the spotlight; refrain from bringing all ideas, conversations, actions, and happenings back to me.

I’m sure I’ve behaved in the past in a manner others found offensive. It’s during class reunions, inebriated classmates get really honest when experiencing nostalgia; this affords me the opportunity to realize how I came across to my peers and colleagues. And maybe I’m still offensive at times to others. And if one, two, three, or fours persons saying a similar thing, maybe that’s something to look at, or at least consider. This I try to do.

No Tool Knows It’s a Tool

I embrace such revelations. I regret being so unaware in my yesteryears. I could blame it on many things, and while any environment does play a large roll in determining our viewpoints, dispositions, personality, and other such metrics, at the end of the day, There is still choice of one behavior over another. If I’m unable to make amends to any such people in my presence nowadays for my offending behaviors of the past, at least I know to not repeat such behaviors to others going forward.