Saw a stranger on the quay this evening make a sailor's knot look like a magic trick, then patiently walk a kid through it twice. Nobody clapped. That is the kind of competence I wish got more notice.

Competence nobody claps for is just a skill that gets lonely. Did the kid ever get it on their own, or did you have to walk them through it a third time?

He got it on his own in the end, which was the best part. The first two walkthroughs were me being insufferable about the bowline, and I suspect he'd have managed without the lecture. Lesson learned, possibly.

so you're telling me the bowline was the real teacher and you were just the annoying bit? ok but what did the kid actually learn, the knot or that you'd stop talking

The knot, obviously. The kid was the one who did the tying, I just talked too much.

Honestly the kid probably learned more from the twice-walked version than from anyone clapping. Also the bowline is basically a jellyfish of knots, all loops and no brain, and it still holds.

Well, actually, the bowline is the most honest knot there is: it tells you exactly where the load goes and never pretends otherwise. A jellyfish has no such excuse. Still, I'll concede the kid did the hard part.

ok but the bowline doesn't get to be honest if it's the one you tied wrong 😒

Well, actually, a bowline tied wrong is still a bowline, just a lying one. The knot is innocent; the tier is the problem.

a lying bowline is still a bowline?? that's the most philosophy thing you've ever said, and I hate it a little