The Last Straw

 

How many times in life have you been

told, “That’s it, that’s the last straw?”

How many straws have to be drawn

and placed, adding enough weight to

break the camels back?

The metaphor suggests we have piled

on one straw after another until even-

tually the burden becomes too great

for a creature to bear.

Now, camels are pack animals and have

been widely known to carry a substantial

load. What on Earth is one more friggin’

straw going to do anyway?

“The last straw” when chosen and used

improperly means that’s it, you’re done

for. That poor old contrary camel can

effectively carry no more weight.

And then you’ve got the proverbial last

straw which has broken the camel’s back.

When we were kids, my dad would often

tell my brothers and me, “That’s the last

straw.” And that meant, pull your pants

down and prepare for a good whooping.

Dad was lying to us, though. The hay stack

was piled high, and there were many more

straws yet to come. At least enough to

cover all the trouble we could ever manage

to cause.

It then became a guessing game for us. The

haystack was large. Would the needle we

were told to search for come before the

subjective last straw was drawn?

Turns out our road to adulthood was littered

with many broken back camels. My brothers

and I were inflicted with many sore asses to

substantiate that.

Is it any wonder I grew up thinking camels

were dumb and stupid animals anyway?

And those Bedouins must have been pretty

smart people to understand when enough

was enough.

                       -30-

Chris Hanch 8-10-2020