How Many Lightbulbs? Poem by gershon hepner

How many light bulbs does it take
to make a person really change
and recognize a great mistake?
The number that you must arrange
depends not on the light bulbs but
the head in which they have been screwed,
for sometimes even in a glut
light bulbs can’t change your attitude.

It isn’t when you see the light
that you accept a great defeat,
you only learn that you’re not right
when you’ve been burned, and feel the heat.
By screwing light bulbs in you can’t
unlock your problem––light is not
enough. You’ll be idiot savant
until, when screwed, you feel it’s hot.

David Brooks (“The Culture of Debt, ” NYT, July 22,2008) writes:
Meanwhile, social institutions are trying to re-right the norms. The government is sending some messages. The Treasury and the Fed are trying to stabilize the system while still ensuring that those who made mistakes feel the pain.But the important shifts will be private, as people and communities learn and adopt different social standards. After the Depression, a savings mentality set in. After the dot-com bubble, a bit of sobriety hit Silicon Valley. Now it’s the borrowers’ and lenders’ turn. As the saying goes: People don’t change when they see the light. They change when they feel the heat.

7/22/08