The Particularity Gene

Some years ago...I bought a small carving of a male and female figure I thought was made of one piece of wood...from a grizzled man who was carving them...by the sea wall path....at English Bay. I gave it to the person I was walking with and thought I would pay the carver a compliment and said to him: "You're doing some nice work carving these figures out of
wood". He looked at me eyes flashing and said: "I never carve wood!...all I ever carve is bark!"...followed by a disdainful look at how anyone could make such a stupid mistake. As is my wont...I reflected on this incident after...and came to the
conclusion that I had run afoul of the "particularity gene" in some human beings...that tends to manifest in no uncertain
terms. In the old movie "Some like it hot"...one of the characters...was it Marilyn herself?...speaks about always falling for
saxophone....or was it tenor saxophone?..players. [My not being totally specific here...is undermining this story about someone...also being very specific about a type of choice in their lives...but I think you get the idea]. I am happy to report
that song writer/singer/poet people...are sometimes big beneficiaries from this wild card streak manifesting in some human
beings...in this case bursting through parental training of their female offspring...to stay away from such "head in the clouds" types...and always choosing reliable money makers...instead. It could be said...that this kind of preference by some human beings...is the "joker in the pack" that life deals out to people...by passing majority held beliefs about what we should like or dislike...or who we should associate with. This wild card...sometimes "levels the playing field"...or underlines the uniqueness of each human being...bringing spice to the "pot of life". Without this "particularity gene"...as I call it...turning up sometimes where we least expect it...life would likely be a predictable and boring thing....................Quester.