Karen’s comment about getting one’s shirt in a lather (by the way, the front loading washers do seem to do a better job) reminded me of a story told by one of my high school teachers (Nancy Ramseur, who included it in Where To Find Tomorrow: A Zero-Cost Road to Better Public Schools, a book co-authored by her and her sister and fellow teacher, Mary Ramseur Lindsay).
Discussing a classrooom solution they pioneered in Camden, S.C., the book also addressed some of the frustration Drs. Ramseur and Lindsay had both felt in their teaching careers. One example they gave was sitting in an audience listening to an official or administrator excitedly describing some program or another his district had adopted; in a thundering climax, he enthused from the podium that the new process would “CAP THE GAMOOT” for their schools.
What exactly was meant is debateable, but “cap the gamoot” has become part of our family lexicon for any of the commonplace ironies and absurdities of life. And resolutely comparing ourselves with ourselves, rather than some objective and external standard, is a prime setup for that comment.
