My kid asked me why concrete cracks and I had to think for a minute.

We were looking at a driveway pour I did last week in Springfield, and she pointed at a hairline crack. I gave her the usual line about expansion and contraction. She just looked at me and said, 'So it's like when my play-doh dries out and breaks, but bigger?' I had to admit, that's pretty much it. It made me realize I overcomplicate things sometimes. Anyone got a better way to explain it to a six-year-old?

2 comments

2 Comments

drew_west1d ago

That play-doh comparison is actually spot on. Kids cut right to the heart of things. It's wild how often we add a bunch of extra words when the simple answer is right there. Makes you wonder what other stuff we're overcomplicating just because we're used to hearing the fancy version.

anthony721d ago

But is it really that deep? We add extra words because plain language can sound blunt or rude sometimes. Telling a coworker "your idea has flaws" needs more padding than a kid saying "this play-doh looks bad." And a lot of fancy talk is just job jargon you can't avoid. Maybe we're not overcomplicating it, we're just trying to be polite or fit in at work.