Jack of all trades

What or who is Jack of all trades?

I started hearing about this Jack from childhood, I don't know anybody called Jack neither do I know this "Jack of all trade" but one thing I know is that he's always used to describe a mediocre, or perhaps a loser!

Those days when I was a kid, if someone wanted to abuse you for doing so many things, especially when you didn't do them very well, they'll call you "Jack of all trades" 

I kept wondering how or why people believe that being able to do so many things is bad, "this Jack is a genius, he ought to be even commended" I once thought to myself

What did this Jack even do?

What's his offence?

I tried to find out but the only thing I could remember was when this same Jack went up the hill with Jill to fetch a pail of water, he fell down and broke his crown. Could that be the reason?

I don't think so, the fact that he broke his crown should even make people pity him and love him for being a good boy who fetches water for his mother

I always thought there must be something wrong with Jack that made people use his name derogatorily but I couldn't place my hands on it until the my dad completed the sentence  "Jack of all trades, master of none". Ooohhh! That's it!

So the problem with Jack isn't that he does all trades but the problem is that he isn't a master in any of the trades, it now makes sense right?

After hearing the second part of that sentence, I agreed with the people that taunt Jack

"why won't he focus on one thing and do it well for crying out loud, must do everything?"

"Perhaps he wants to gain cheap attention and popularity" I said to myself

I towed along the same line of thoughts with majority of the people, but when I went into myself and gave it a thorough thought, I began to admire Jack even more than I did before I heard the full sentence

Now think about this:

People expect Jack to learn one thing and know it very well, they want him to be restricted to one thing perhaps

Now, I ask:

What if he becomes very good in one thing and ignorant in other things, would it have been better?

For me, I think

It is better to know a little about everything than to know much about one thing

        Chinedu Mbamalu

That's my thought though, you're free to disagree with me. A lot of people that focus so much on one thing end up being completely ignorant in every other thing

But Jack here is a genius, he doesn't need to be restricted to just one thing, he knows a bit about everything, my kind of person

Let's bring this home; 

What did you study in school?

Is your discipline the only thing you know?

Are you proud about it?

Most of us that went to school aren't even practicing what we studied in school; if we had focused only on our course of study, what could have become of us?

I'm of the school of thought that one has to be versatile in knowledge no matter how little in every field, I don't believe in burying my head in one particular area

Would you rather know a little of everything or be a professional in only one and be ignorant in many other things?

Individual choices differ and you're entitled to your choices and opinions, but please, leave my Jack for me, he's my mentor... hahaha... 

From me, from here, it's bye bye for now

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