yield

"what does Y-I-E-L-D mean?"

so far, what i've found is that most of daily life for us isn't about dominance and submission. what i've found are words that are much better descriptors. "yield" for example. i was trying to explain this particular street sign to someone who won't need to know the particulars of traffic intersections for at least another ten years, and found myself describing a perfect analogy for daily life.

"it's kind of like. well. when two cars come to an intersection..."

"what's an 'intersection'?"

"well. it's. um. when two cars meet going in different directions. and they have to decide who's going to go first."

"why?"

"why what?"

"why do they have to decide who goes first?"

"well. um. because they might crash?"

"oh."

"yeah. so. when there's a sign that says 'yield', it means that person has to wait for the other person to go first."

"always?"

"well, if there isn't another car, then they don't have to wait for someone to go first, because. well. there isn't anyone else to go first except them, right?"

"oh. so if you're the only car on the street, even if it says 'yield', you don't have to, right?"

"yeah."

"oh. what happens when both cars want to 'yield'?"

"well. that's a problem. because then no one would go first, 'cause they'd keep waiting for someone else to go."

"and they'd never get where they were going."

"exactly."