- Joined
- Nov 7, 2007
- Messages
- 243
I am re-reading Ed Fowler's latest Knife Talk column, "A Little Knife Revolution Never Hurt Anyone" (current Blade Magazine Jan '08). Now I really liked his piece the first time I read it. But that's not why I am re-reading it now.
I am re-reading Ed's piece because it dawned on me, more than a week after reading it the first time, that as much as I had originally both enjoyed and agreed with Ed's call for a "Little Revolution" I did not at any time have even the slightest intention of personally doing anything about it myself.
Now you would think that an article with the by-line, "Changing Attitudes towards knives begins with you" didn't leave too much room for misunderstanding. But then you would be very wrong.
No matter what the article did or didn't say, it was as if I, as reader, had an unspoken deal with Ed, the author. That he would address his call for change to everyone except for me and in return I would agree that they should all join him, while I sit conveniently on the sidelines taking it all in. Despite the obvious problem with this approach, it would still have worked very well if I had been the only one with such a deal. Apparently, though, I was not alone, which probably goes a long way to explaining why the Revolution hasn't yet caught on.
So I am going to give the article a second chance. Here goes.
Ed's argument is a simple one. Years ago it was very common to see knives used in public. Whether it was seniors whittling as they sat on the benches in front of the local courthouse or the endless ways that knives were used for everyday tasks. That's why their generation were more tolerant of knives.
Today we no longer see any public knife use. Is it surprising then that someone contacted Ed, complaining that when he peeled a fruit with a small pocket knife on a bench in a mall, he got looks as if he were a terrorist?
Having diagnosed the problem, Ed suggests that the solution lies in slowly but surely re-introducing knives into the Public Square and he gives practical examples.
Now before we get to Ed's examples, I try a little soul-searching. I ask myself an honest question. If I, as a reader of Blade Magazine and an avid reader of Blade Forums, won't answer Fred's call, who will? Just who is going to be getting involved in Ed's revolution to bring back the knife? Public school teachers? The readers of the New York Times? You bet.
And if you are reading this and you are not yet answering Fred's call to revolution, you can try asking yourself the same question. Who is going to do it if not you?
So, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that we should all be joining Ed Fowler's Little Revolution to slowly but surely change the way the public looks at knives.
And his suggestions are all doable. Among the easiest:
His other major suggestion:
Ed suggests we revive interest in whittling and wood-carving. He recommends that we get books on whittling (there are many available for purchase online) and pass them on to the next generation. That we encourage our children to carry knives wherever and whenever legally possible.
Now the skeptic in me is saying that all of this is easier said than done. But re-reading Ed's article, Ed's words are getting to me. Yes, it's true that it's all easier said than done. But then so is reading Ed's article. That's also easier said than done. Your reading this piece I have just written is also easier said than done. So is almost anything that we do in life, easier said than done. You have a job? That's certainly easier said than done. So how come it's just those things that take extra courage and commitment that we avoid with the excuse, "Easier said than done"?
So maybe it is time to give Ed's ideas a chance. Because there is one thing that is dead certain, if we of Blade Forums, the best knife community in the world, can't do it, then no-one else can and if we of Blade Forums, won't do it, then no-one else will. And if nobody does it soon, there won't be any later, because by then it will already be too late.
I am re-reading Ed's piece because it dawned on me, more than a week after reading it the first time, that as much as I had originally both enjoyed and agreed with Ed's call for a "Little Revolution" I did not at any time have even the slightest intention of personally doing anything about it myself.
Now you would think that an article with the by-line, "Changing Attitudes towards knives begins with you" didn't leave too much room for misunderstanding. But then you would be very wrong.
No matter what the article did or didn't say, it was as if I, as reader, had an unspoken deal with Ed, the author. That he would address his call for change to everyone except for me and in return I would agree that they should all join him, while I sit conveniently on the sidelines taking it all in. Despite the obvious problem with this approach, it would still have worked very well if I had been the only one with such a deal. Apparently, though, I was not alone, which probably goes a long way to explaining why the Revolution hasn't yet caught on.
So I am going to give the article a second chance. Here goes.
Ed's argument is a simple one. Years ago it was very common to see knives used in public. Whether it was seniors whittling as they sat on the benches in front of the local courthouse or the endless ways that knives were used for everyday tasks. That's why their generation were more tolerant of knives.
Today we no longer see any public knife use. Is it surprising then that someone contacted Ed, complaining that when he peeled a fruit with a small pocket knife on a bench in a mall, he got looks as if he were a terrorist?
Having diagnosed the problem, Ed suggests that the solution lies in slowly but surely re-introducing knives into the Public Square and he gives practical examples.
Now before we get to Ed's examples, I try a little soul-searching. I ask myself an honest question. If I, as a reader of Blade Magazine and an avid reader of Blade Forums, won't answer Fred's call, who will? Just who is going to be getting involved in Ed's revolution to bring back the knife? Public school teachers? The readers of the New York Times? You bet.
And if you are reading this and you are not yet answering Fred's call to revolution, you can try asking yourself the same question. Who is going to do it if not you?
So, correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me that we should all be joining Ed Fowler's Little Revolution to slowly but surely change the way the public looks at knives.
And his suggestions are all doable. Among the easiest:
His other major suggestion:
Ed suggests we revive interest in whittling and wood-carving. He recommends that we get books on whittling (there are many available for purchase online) and pass them on to the next generation. That we encourage our children to carry knives wherever and whenever legally possible.
Now the skeptic in me is saying that all of this is easier said than done. But re-reading Ed's article, Ed's words are getting to me. Yes, it's true that it's all easier said than done. But then so is reading Ed's article. That's also easier said than done. Your reading this piece I have just written is also easier said than done. So is almost anything that we do in life, easier said than done. You have a job? That's certainly easier said than done. So how come it's just those things that take extra courage and commitment that we avoid with the excuse, "Easier said than done"?
So maybe it is time to give Ed's ideas a chance. Because there is one thing that is dead certain, if we of Blade Forums, the best knife community in the world, can't do it, then no-one else can and if we of Blade Forums, won't do it, then no-one else will. And if nobody does it soon, there won't be any later, because by then it will already be too late.
) But, go to Nevada City or Grass Valley or some other rural area, and I always see folding knives in belt sheaths, and occasionally (Gasp!) a fixed blade on someone's belt.
