Have you ever been in the situation where you did not have all the pieces to complete an important job? Has the situation been so dire that you would do practically anything, short of an immoral or illegal act to get the job done?
Most of us have been in that situation. We have several options available to us. We can obtain the parts through normal channels – buying, borrowing, or trading until the task is complete. We can call a helpline and wait until the vendor sends us the required parts. We can simply not complete the task.
But for anyone who has ever built or repaired something, whether it be building IKEA furniture, installing shelves or curtain rods, or performing routine car maintenance, the the following is practically a universal law: never underestimate the power of scrounge.
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines scrounge as a verb meaning to get as needed by or as if by foraging, scavenging, or borrowing. Although the online dictionary does not define it as so, the items foraged for, scavenged, or borrowed would therefore be the noun, “scrounge.”
Anyone building IKEA furniture, or building pretty much anything requiring nuts, bolts, screws and using simple hand tools will recognize the second of universal truths: after the task is complete, there will always be extra pieces, hardware, or something left over. Short of throwing them away, where do we put those extra things?
In a scrounge collection of course.
Scrounge collections have saved countless hours of wait time, frustration, and possibly lives.
This introduces a story of how scrounge saved our necks while repairing jet engines in a unnamed branch of the military. But let me add that having scrounge was against the rules.
Following the universal laws, while repairing and maintaining jet engines, there were always pieces, parts, and hardware left over. For simple nuts and bolts, the official rule was to throw them away. For hardware coming off the hot part of the engine, this rule made sense. Excessive heat made the nuts and bolts less secure and thus less safe. But that didn’t hold true for the cold part of the engine. But the rules were expected to be followed, so we were expected to throw everything away.
However our mission was to keep the aircraft flying and it was our job to ensure that the engines were repaired and ready. Balancing our jobs with the rules became quite a balancing act. If we always followed the rules, often we would be short on parts. If we didn’t follow the rules, we’d have the parts on hand.
Enter scrounge.
Anyone familiar with a maintenance facility is aware that repairs are never complete without quality control. Inspectors check every task and ensure that each task is up to the required specifications. The inspectors sign off all properly completed maintenance and give the green light for the aircraft to fly.
Inspectors also ensure that the rules are followed to the letter.
Inspectors look for scrounge. They arrive unannounced and look for scrounge in the most unexpected places.
We got very creative in hiding scrounge. We’d lift up the heavy iron grates and hide the scrounge in the drains. We’d remove ceiling tiles and hide scrounge in the ceiling. We’d even take it with us and keep it in the trunks of our cars.
Remember, it was a balancing act: our mission to keep the aircraft flying vs. following each and every rule to the letter.
While I’m not advocating rule-breaking, I am pointing out of couple of things that pertain to real life. Scrounge has saved lives and prevented frustration. And we justify breaking the rules if it keeps with the overall mission or agenda.
These are things to think about as you reach into your scrounge bag looking for something to complete your next task.
