The Story of the Fly and the Spider

The Fly

Introducing the fly: a small, disgusting creature built with the wings of a demon and the legs of Satan himself. So many tiny eyes, but the brain does not work. The fly does not think very far ahead. It moves around aimlessly between spaces, spending much of its energy freaking out all the time about nothing. Occasionally, the fly will sit motionless (almost as if plotting the next move). It's not. The fly is sitting there trying to recover from the process of being absolutely belligerent for a few minutes.

The Spider

Now consider the spider. Patient. Hard-working. Still has the legs of Satan, but that's not for us to judge. The spider does not aimlessly wander around the rooms, spending all of its energy. No! The spider builds. Recognizing the finiteness of its energy, it finds a location, settles there, and builds. It creates a beautiful work of art in the form of a web, but not only is this spider's web a work of art - it is also made to sustain the spider's life. This web is able to passively create opportunity for the spider. Once the spider has set up shop, now it is able to rest. Waiting. It jumps back into action when opportunity strikes, meticulously bundling its prey into food for a long time.

The Man

I now urge you to ponder the man. Thousands of times larger than either the spider or the fly. The man is able to easily crush the spider with his shoe, destroying the web in the process. The man is also able to use an electric zapping tennis racket from Black and Decker to gracefully catch the fly in mid-air and tase it to death. What a ride! I'm sure there are many metaphors in this story. They were all unintentional, and none of this story should be taken as motivational. I killed a fly yesterday with a zapper, and I crushed a spider. My home is being invaded by bugs, and I may call in an exterminator.