Three Levels

I am not an anthropologist but supposedly, the counting systems of primitive people often consists of only One, Two, Three and Many. This makes sense in a culture where figuring does not really come up.

Yesterday I had to get a generator out of the back of our truck. A worker at Costco had helped me get the thing in at the store. With a gravity assist, I got the machine out of the Yukon. This set me to thinking though about whether or not I could have gotten it into the truck without assistance. My wife, who is really very strong was with me at the store, so I would have had help, but still I was wondering. I am curious but not so much that I will put the generator back into the truck just to find out if I can. Anyway, it would not be a good test because at this point, it doesn't really matter if I can lift the box three feet into the back of an SUV. It is not like I have paid a bunch of money for this machine and I am in a parking lot with it and the car.

So I got to thinking that there are three categories of things, in terms of my ability to handle them:

1. I can easily pick it up and put it wherever it needs to go.

2. I could lift it, but I will almost certainly injure myself in the process.

3. It is beyond my strength to do.

The generator is probably somewhere between #2 and #3. Though in the past I have attempted a 2-3 task and been happily surprised at it actually being a #1.