Bruised Tomatoes

If a tree falls in the forest, and there is nobody around to hear it, will it make a sound?

This supposedly highbrow question has traditionally been used by the Mensa crowd as a philosophical point of discussion. The snobs actually believe that there is a debatable answer, but any seasoned engineer knows the answer is: yes, it will... but the sound will be different depending on the observer. The observer... the somebody around to hear... is part of the tree-falling event. Period. No further discussion.

Similarly, the person shopping at the grocery store produce aisle squeezing a tomato will bruise it and thus change it. Testing... the shopper... does change the item under test. Think of how many people will squeeze that tomato during a Saturday. And have you noticed the mess by the eggs?

In weapons testing, we have to watch for the testing cowboys jabbering too much on the radio while going thru their checklists, because too much of this might mean that the moving targets could be clear off the test area by the time somebody finally gets to press the trigger. Good thing that testing is not real-life, or our weapons would be worthless. Testing changes the item under test.

In dating and relationships, as one person goes shopping for another, he or she can and do leave a whole lot of bruised tomatoes in their wake, especially if that perfection they are looking for doesn't exist. Or what if they are the tomatoes that hang around just to get squeezed? I've seen this phenomena close-up and note that this world consists mostly of bruised tomatoes. Here, too, testing changes the item under test, and the bruising shows societally.

A solution? Is the bruising worth the squeeze? Give up tomatoes, and, especially, don't present yourself as one. There are sooo many better things to do in life.

And laugh at the squeezed tomato.

- © 2009 by Willy

P.S., watch what you observe!