April 14, 1998
Six
Opinions
The Fool on the Beardstown
Ladies
Everyone Makes
Mistakes
by Selena Maranjian
([email protected])
"We are built to make mistakes, coded for error."
So said Lewis Thomas, the author of the celebrated biology book, The Lives of a Cell. The Beardstown Ladies recently proved that they were no exception to this rule.
The media has been quick to pounce on this group of (mostly) grannies, making much of their miscalculated returns. It seems to me that although the world should indeed be informed of the mistake, the ladies needn't be pilloried for their gaffe.
Assuming that this blunder was an innocent one, as it appears to be, we would do well to stop and think before scoffing at and chastising these women. After all, who among us has not made a mistake? I suspect that most of us will admit to having, at least on infrequent occasions, erred. Investing, especially, is rarely without error. Who has not bought something they shouldn't have bought, overlooking a critical piece of information? (Certainly not the Fool Portfolio -- anyone remember Sonic Solutions? ATC Communications?) Who hasn't bought or sold a stock impulsively? Who hasn't miscalculated a return, or some other figure, on occasion?
Errors come with being human. Ever since the original mistake was made in the Garden of Eden, the mistakes have been flowing freely.
Consider some of the great mistakes of history:
-- In 1948, one or more editors of the Chicago Daily Tribune decided that it was safe to go ahead and print the headline "Dewey Defeats Truman" on the November 3rd city edition. This is a blooper we've chuckled at for decades.
-- Napoleon's decision to march on Moscow was, in retrospect, not a great idea. (Hundreds of thousands of his men froze and starved to death in the merciless winter.) Nor was Hitler's decision to attack Russia wise. (Another unpleasant winter, with diminishing troops and supplies.) Indeed, it appears that it might be a bad idea for anyone to consider invading Russia during the winter.
-- Julius Caesar made a regrettable error when he didn't listen to his wife, who urged him not to go in to work on the Ides of March.
-- On the star-crossed voyage of the great ship Titanic, there were many, many mistakes made. (Just as engrossing as today's blockbuster movie hit are several documentaries about the sinking -- the number of errors they describe are staggering.) It was wrong to pick up speed in order to set a record. Wrong to not have enough lifeboats. (That's a strange error -- if they would ever be needed, it should have been clear that twice as many would have been required. Perhaps another error was assuming that such an eventuality would never occur.) The night watchmen should not have been on duty without binoculars -- another mistake.
-- Moving on to lighter stuff, sports buffs might recall the tragic error of New York Giants coach John McVay and his quarterback, Joe Pisarcik -- it's known by many as "The Fumble." In 1978, with less than a minute to go, the Giants led the Philadelphia Eagles 17-12. Getting down on one knee and letting the clock run out would have been the best option for Pisarcik, but he was directed to hand off the ball to a teammate instead. That's when the fumble occurred, allowing the Eagles to recover the fumble, score a touchdown, and win.
-- When General Motors decided to try selling the Nova in South America, it also bungled, not even bothering to find out what "No va" might mean in Spanish ("no go").
-- The entertainment world is chock full of bone-headed moves. The network that canceled Tracey Ullman's variety show goofed. The network that okayed Hello Larry and Cop Rock did, too. Most film studios that say things like, "Yeah, let's go ahead and make Lethal Death VIII" aren't making the best choice.
I'll stop here, as I suspect you get the point.
While it's noteworthy that a mistake was made, the more important thing is what the mistake-makers have to say about it and what they do. As poet Nikki Giovanni wrote, "Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to error that counts."
Consider the words of Beardstown Lady (and investment club treasurer) Betty Sinnock: "I guess we were a group of naive senior citizens who just felt real good when the computer gave us that return... [we're] just really, really sorry."
She also added that, "We want people to know that our priorities are still education, enjoyment, and enrichment, as they have always been... We continue to encourage people to save, do their homework, and grow their nest eggs."
A Foolish message indeed.