BUTTONHEADS

We`are fascinated as a society with buttons.

We "button up" when it's cold, and we tell others to "button up" when we want them to shut up. We know we had better "button down" if we want to get that job done. We think our little child is "cute as a button" and he/she is "as bright as a button". And occasionally, we have been known to "hit the panic button".

But those are not the button uses I want to address today. I want to talk about the ones that equate our lives with elevators. You know. If you want to get in someone's favor, or get that job and get ahead, , you had better "push the right buttons". Can't get in my favor or to the right floor if you "push the wrong buttons", you know. That suggests that there is only one way to get to where we want to get to, that we are no more creative, no more thoughtful, no more daring, than the monotonized, routinized, predictable elevator that simply goes up and down all day, and occasionally stalls.

But that analogy is false. There are a thousand ways to get to where you want to get to. You can get to the 18th floor by hitting the button marked "18". Or, you can hit the "16" button and then walk up two flights. Might actually be healthier for you. Might also meet someone on the staircase you wouldn't have met otherwise, someone who could change your life. Or you can hit the "23" button and enjoy sliding down five bannisters. You get the idea.

Buildings traditionally did not wish to have a 13th floor. Bad luck, it was thought. So there was no "13" button in the elevator. But of course a building with more than 12 floors did have a 13th floor, it was just labelled "14". And that should have warned us that the whole button scenario was screwed up, and that sometimes the wrong buttons may be the right ones.

Now, I would like to  think that my life is something more than elevator.  So please don't try to push my buttons, or I'll zip(per) you up.