The Fork in My Office

That is not a metaphor. I literally have a fork that I keep in my office.

That requires some explanation.

I’m a big fan of the TV show, Big Bang Theory. Personally, I think it’s the funniest show ever. In one episode, Leonard mentions that Sheldon “lives in fear of the three-tined fork”. Sheldon responds, “Three tines is not a fork. Three tines is a trident. Forks are for eating, tridents are for ruling the seven seas.”

So, now fast forward to 2016. That was the year I married my wife. As we moved into our new house and began combining household items, I discovered a three tined fork in her silverware. I got really excited and promptly commandeered it, because a trident does not belong among the cutlery.

That brings us to yesterday. I was hurriedly trying to get my first video shot and ready for upload. I was struggling with remembering everything I wanted to cover and realized I needed a prompt. The computer monitor was at the wrong angle. My old iPad2 was completely dead. So I got creative. The entire production was very DIY anyway, but my makeshift “teleprompter” was a whole new level of uniqueness. See for yourself…

The point of all of this is simple. When you run into a problem (and you will), you can focus on the problem or focus on a solution. It’s ok to get stuck every once in awhile as long as you don’t stay stuck. My trident/fork may not have been an elegant solution, but it worked. My video got posted whether the solution was elegant or not. And if I hadn’t shared this story, you never would have known that my teleprompter was a handwritten note on a sheet of paper held up by a fork.