A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush
Title
A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"That is a very insightful statement."
Date
2014-07-14
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Identifier
A_BIRD_IN_THE_HAND_IS_WORTH_TWO_IN_THE_BUSH
Text
A BIRD IN THE HAND IS WORTH TWO IN THE BUSH
That is a very insightful statement. There is another saying about better the devil you know, than the one you don’t know. Each seems to suggest that you should hold on to what you have. The second saying suggests that the other devil may be worse. And if you try to get the two birds in the bush, you may lose the bird you have in the hand. By the way, there is a town in Pennsylvania called “Bird in Hand.” I think it was founded by the Amish or the Mennonites. I really don’t know the difference between the two. There was a movie some time back starring Harrison Ford, and he was running away from somebody. He may have been falsely accused of a crime, and he hid out among the Amish—or was it the Mennonites? Was it called “The Fugitive?”
I really liked Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. I have a hat like the one he wears, but I don’t wear it very often. Some years ago, I bought a cap in London, and my friend Sol said he liked it, and I gave it to him. He, in turn, gave me a cowboy hat. I think I got the better of the deal. Someone told me that the word “handicap” comes from the phrase ”cap in hand.” Almost sounds like “bird in hand.”
Back to the statement, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: There are a lot of sayings, idioms, expressions and proverbs, and like jokes, I used to come up with them in the course of conversation. Someone would say something and it would bring to mind a saying, or a joke, or a similar story. If I couldn’t restrain myself, I would interject, and without meaning to, my interruption might change the whole direction of what was being said. I will try to restrain myself in the future.
I was thinking about “a bird in the hand,” in connection with watching a show on TV rather than watching a DVD, and it reminded me, I am not sure why, of the saying, “sour grapes.” I think it was one of Aesop’s fables where the fox, who couldn’t reach the grapes, said something like, I bet the grapes are sour, anyway. Which reminded me of the wolf in Peter and the Wolf. Which reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood, and the wolf who wanted to eat whatever Little Red Riding Hood had in her basket that she was bringing to her grandmother. And that reminded me of a lot of other fairy tales,
When I was about seven or eight I was given a book of fairy tales. Would you believe, it was the only book I owned. I read all about Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Puss in Boots. It was a fancy pop-up book. I treasured that book. Coincidentally, my mother had a book of poems called ”The Golden Treasury.” She treasured that book too. (Get it: treasuring the Golden Treasury!) However, my mother had hundred of other books, but they were in Yiddish. For my Bar Mitzvah, I got two other books. One, by Richard Halliburton, about his travels around the world, and another called “Laughs from Jewish Lore.” The jokes were not very funny.
What I started to say about “a bird in the hand”: Sometimes in the evening, I sit down to watch TV. I turn the TV on, and flip through the channels. I don’t look at the TV page, mostly because we get the NY Times, and it does not have a listing of TV programs for Boston. I am perfectly happy watching whatever is playing, and if I find something I like, I stay with it. There are lots of channels. If it gets boring, I might switch to a ballgame, if there is a ballgame on.
My first choice is always Turner Classic Movies (TCM). I know Turner made a lot of money at something, and he was married to Jane Fonda, but how does he make money owning his own movie channel? That guy has really accumulated a lot of movies, and Robert Osborne knows all about them. I am not crazy about his conversations with Drew Barrymore. She seldom has anything worthwhile to say, and she is not very pretty. She must be cashing in on her family name, but I suspect that there are few people watching movies today who remember the Barrymore family: John, Ethel, and Lionel.
Back to “a bird in the hand.” To me, whatever is on TV when I turn it on, is “the bird in the hand,” and my DVDs are a lot of birds in the bush. If I choose one of the birds in the bush, that means I have to look through my DVDs, make a choice, insert the DVD into the DVD player, and try to remember how to work the DVD remote. Though I can watch two, or more, I will only watch one. And messing with the DVD involves more activity on my part. Is that what is known as “interactive?” I don’t want to be active or interactive. I want to sit back, be inactive, and, with my TV remote in hand (which I know how to operate) watch whatever is on.
7-14-14
That is a very insightful statement. There is another saying about better the devil you know, than the one you don’t know. Each seems to suggest that you should hold on to what you have. The second saying suggests that the other devil may be worse. And if you try to get the two birds in the bush, you may lose the bird you have in the hand. By the way, there is a town in Pennsylvania called “Bird in Hand.” I think it was founded by the Amish or the Mennonites. I really don’t know the difference between the two. There was a movie some time back starring Harrison Ford, and he was running away from somebody. He may have been falsely accused of a crime, and he hid out among the Amish—or was it the Mennonites? Was it called “The Fugitive?”
I really liked Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. I have a hat like the one he wears, but I don’t wear it very often. Some years ago, I bought a cap in London, and my friend Sol said he liked it, and I gave it to him. He, in turn, gave me a cowboy hat. I think I got the better of the deal. Someone told me that the word “handicap” comes from the phrase ”cap in hand.” Almost sounds like “bird in hand.”
Back to the statement, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: There are a lot of sayings, idioms, expressions and proverbs, and like jokes, I used to come up with them in the course of conversation. Someone would say something and it would bring to mind a saying, or a joke, or a similar story. If I couldn’t restrain myself, I would interject, and without meaning to, my interruption might change the whole direction of what was being said. I will try to restrain myself in the future.
I was thinking about “a bird in the hand,” in connection with watching a show on TV rather than watching a DVD, and it reminded me, I am not sure why, of the saying, “sour grapes.” I think it was one of Aesop’s fables where the fox, who couldn’t reach the grapes, said something like, I bet the grapes are sour, anyway. Which reminded me of the wolf in Peter and the Wolf. Which reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood, and the wolf who wanted to eat whatever Little Red Riding Hood had in her basket that she was bringing to her grandmother. And that reminded me of a lot of other fairy tales,
When I was about seven or eight I was given a book of fairy tales. Would you believe, it was the only book I owned. I read all about Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs, Puss in Boots. It was a fancy pop-up book. I treasured that book. Coincidentally, my mother had a book of poems called ”The Golden Treasury.” She treasured that book too. (Get it: treasuring the Golden Treasury!) However, my mother had hundred of other books, but they were in Yiddish. For my Bar Mitzvah, I got two other books. One, by Richard Halliburton, about his travels around the world, and another called “Laughs from Jewish Lore.” The jokes were not very funny.
What I started to say about “a bird in the hand”: Sometimes in the evening, I sit down to watch TV. I turn the TV on, and flip through the channels. I don’t look at the TV page, mostly because we get the NY Times, and it does not have a listing of TV programs for Boston. I am perfectly happy watching whatever is playing, and if I find something I like, I stay with it. There are lots of channels. If it gets boring, I might switch to a ballgame, if there is a ballgame on.
My first choice is always Turner Classic Movies (TCM). I know Turner made a lot of money at something, and he was married to Jane Fonda, but how does he make money owning his own movie channel? That guy has really accumulated a lot of movies, and Robert Osborne knows all about them. I am not crazy about his conversations with Drew Barrymore. She seldom has anything worthwhile to say, and she is not very pretty. She must be cashing in on her family name, but I suspect that there are few people watching movies today who remember the Barrymore family: John, Ethel, and Lionel.
Back to “a bird in the hand.” To me, whatever is on TV when I turn it on, is “the bird in the hand,” and my DVDs are a lot of birds in the bush. If I choose one of the birds in the bush, that means I have to look through my DVDs, make a choice, insert the DVD into the DVD player, and try to remember how to work the DVD remote. Though I can watch two, or more, I will only watch one. And messing with the DVD involves more activity on my part. Is that what is known as “interactive?” I don’t want to be active or interactive. I want to sit back, be inactive, and, with my TV remote in hand (which I know how to operate) watch whatever is on.
7-14-14
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “A Bird in the Hand is Worth Two in the Bush,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 26, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/247.