The Tacklebox Syndrome and Other Wisdom

Since I started this blog, I thought I better go ahead and explain what the “Tacklebox Syndrome” is. I’m sure I have some of the details of this story messed up, but here it is to the best of my memory. I think you’ll get the point when I’m finished.

My beloved father grew up in Coral Gables, Florida. It used to be a small town outside of Miami, but it is now part of the larger Miami-Dade Metropolitan Area. My dad grew up fishing and, based on his passion and skill at fishing all my life, was probably fishing a lot. His family didn’t have a lot of money so a boat was out of the question. I picture him fishing off the causeways with his little spinner catching whatever he could.

As with any good fisherman, my dad required a tacklebox. To mansplain it, a tacklebox is a small box, usually with a handle, with little trays and compartments for various fishing gear like extra sinkers, hooks, and line. 

At some point my dad, as a boy, found himself needing a new tacklebox. He looked at the store and found one just the perfect size, but the price was a little high. He decided to begin catching bait with his cast net and selling it to the older fisherman around the area to earn money for his prize tacklebox. To his unfulfilled dismay, when he returned to the store with his hard earned bait money, he realized for just a small amount more he could purchase a larger tacklebox. Now, he didn’t really need a larger tacklebox, but a bigger one would probably be better and give him some extra room.

He decided to forgo the original smaller tacklebox and continue his bait operation for money to get the larger item. After a few weeks of selling fresh bait, he returned to the store to make his purchase. He headed to the fishing section and was headed for the new tacklebox, when something shiny caught his eye. It was a larger tacklebox with fancy brass clasps. He checked the price and did some quick math. It would only take a few more weeks of bait sales to get the real prize.

Again, he went to work and by late August had earned enough money to get the biggest best shiniest tacklebox he had ever seen. He went straight for the store and picked out the one he desired. It was the best day ever!

It didn’t take long for my dad to realize his mistake as he lugged the giant behemoth tacklebox out of the store. Even empty, he was exhausted by the time he got home, but began placing all of his fishing accoutrement in the box. Once everything was in place, he realized there was so much room in the spaces in the box, that everything slid around and some stuff tangled together. Also, with all the gear, the box weighed a ton. There was no way he would be able to get around to his fishing spots with that thing.

Now he was stuck with a tacklebox much bigger than he needed, that messed up his tackle, was too heavy for a boy to carry around, and cost several times more than the tacklebox he originally intended to purchase. Not only that, but he had spent nearly his entire summer cast netting and selling bait, and not fishing. He would have been perfectly happy with the original smaller, but adequate, tacklebox. He stubbornly had convinced himself that having the bigger, flashier box would be better.

Sometimes we should be happy with what might seem relatively “less” when what we need is really not all that much. More simply, what we want is not always what we need. Thus the “Tacklebox Syndrome.”