When I was in high school the Guidance Department gave us
aptitude tests. I came out highest to be
an auto mechanic or a diplomat. At that time I just listened to the counselor’s
spiel while I sat there, got up, and went out. All I remembered after that were
the two professions, neither of which I chose to follow. Looking back after all
these years, I see that the common denominator there was logic.
An auto mechanic must have a logical mind to go with his
knowledge of cars. The combination tells
him, for instance, what’s wrong with the car, how to take it apart, and, most
important, how to put it back together again.
A diplomat has to juggle logic: his own and that of the
entities with whom and between whom he must negotiate, and with whom he must
maintain cordial relations on behalf of his country or company. Like being green, it ain’t easy.
I did fall into a field that required logic: computer
programming. I was working for a Long
Island bank that was about to get its first computer. They tested all the employees and I scored
very well. So, from being a teller and then a clerk in the loan department, I
was catapulted into the world of computers. Programming involves logic: instructions
to the computer must follow logically, with no “oh, by the way” instructions to
mess things up. Logically, I could say, I went from programming, to systems
analysis, to running the department, to becoming and A.V.P. in Operations, the
first female officer at the bank.
On the face of things now, I don’t have to dig down and use
any of my logic abilities. Except that I can’t get into a criminal mindset, I
can usually understand other people’s point of view. After over a quarter of a century of retirement,
living in a relatively isolated and fairly homogenous rural community, it’s a
brain boost, and sometimes a diplomatic challenge, to live in a dense, diverse
community like this Sun City Carolina Lakes.
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