As I stared at my boyfriend in disbelief while he explained that he had locked his keys in the car, I couldn’t resist the urge to ask “Do you have some string, an airfreshener, and a plastic cup?” Then as he stared at me (as if I had lost my mind), I told him that what I really needed just a clothes hanger…preferably wire. So there we stood, my boyfriend Mungai and his best friend Bel watching me as I manage to pop the lock on his car door in just under a minute. They were amazed that me, a girl, knew something about cars…wouldn’t they be amazed if they had any idea that I have had plenty of experience learning about cars, generally in lessons with my father after making huge mistakes such as overfilling the oil or letting my tires get too low on air. What I thought was amazing was that the only thing these guys could come up with to open the car was to break the glass!
For Christmas, my mother (in her usual genius for great gifts) sent me a book called What Would MacGyver Do?. As I began to read, it said that in today’s world, the majority of people are “good at the one thing that we are all paid to do, but clueless about most everything else.” So, I want to give you the word “MacGyver” in the vernacular:
Verb: To “MacGyver” something is to fix it in a resourceful and improvisational way
Proper Noun: as honorific, bestowed upon especially creative handymen or -women, eg. “Nice job, MacGyver.”
The -ism: this can be either a) the act of “pulling a MacGyver,” or b) the thingamajig - the makeshift invention – created in the process.
Now, I charge you with going out and learning how to do something new…and use your imagination!!
