The Lesson of Giftless

Giftless, being her usual self.

My little village is driving me crazy. Friendless, the girl who was 12 when I first started the game, grew up and got married. The problem is, she married someone in another village and moved away. I miss the poor thing. I stalk this person's village so I can see how she's doing. She always looks happy, but then again it's a Facebook game and I'm insane.

After all, it's not like I'm going to swing by this other village and find her chained to a tree while the rest of villagers take turns beating her with sticks. Of course, I might have done that to Giftless when she showed up, because she's so damned useless. However, her uselessness taught me an interesting and valuable life lesson. Yes, seriously.

See, every other adult villager I had possessed some skill that made them useful. Hopeless and her husband are very skilled in gathering things. Shiftless is great at mining. Friendless was really talented with farming. Poor old Giftless, however, was, as her name implies, without any talent . . . unless you count breaking things and being ten years older than her husband as talents. I did not.

So while everyone else was off being awesome at something, I would give Giftless all the mundane tasks. She would draw water from the wells, gather firewood, and fix minor tools. She would pick any berries that didn't take too long and make sure that all the stupid things we always have to have in stock, WERE in stock. All the while she did this stuff, I would be annoyed with her for not being able to give me any serious skills.

Then she got pregnant and couldn't work. Suddenly, I couldn't put my other people on their long term, difficult tasks because they were having to draw water, gather berries, get firewood, and fix all the little tools. No farming was happening, no lengthy-tasked gathering could happen, no mining, and certainly no building. Everyone else was having to handle the stuff that Giftless handled all on her own.

And, okay, I realize this is a silly Facebook game, but I was really profoundly humbled by this realization. Giftless, who I had gnashed my teeth at since she arrived in my village was not the most useless person there . . . she was really the most USEFUL person there, because her lack of skills allowed her to play a very vital role in the village. She made things run by doing all the little stuff. If freed up everyone else to do the big stuff. She was deeply important and fit quite well into the structure of the village. The old adage is true. There are no small parts.

I found this little lesson so lovely that I reworked it into a fable told by a wise man in a roleplay I was doing. I think I'm even making it part of my own personal wisdom and mission in life. I want to take the time to really admire the people who do the mundane things, the people who work behind the scenes of life, and who keep the whole damned thing running. These people are vital to the human tribe and they should be celebrated.

Giftless still breaks things all the time. She still flirts with a man who isn't her husband and drinks too much of the water supply. I've come to actually like that about her though. Her little bit of talentless chaos is now an important aspect in my village. I'm glad we have her and I appreciate her contributions. . . even if she did just break the ladder. Again.