2526. Itch before scratch

Silas had been accepted for training in a job he had wanted all his life. It wasn’t so much a “job” as a calling, a vocation, a fulfilment of a dream.

One of the first things the group of candidates were told was if they got an itch they were not to scratch. “If you concentrate on the itch intensely it will go away quickly without scratching. You have a lifetime of scratching when it itches. The motto is: To scratch the scratch, don’t scratch!” At one stage, to facilitate this, a few fleas were released unknown to the group, during a lecture. No one scratched and yet quite a few felt a flea or two!

Silas passed with flying colours, not only the scratch test but everything else as well. In fact he was first in the class of the five candidates who had survived the training. His first undertaking was at hand. It was the most exciting day of his life!

The task began! It was going well! And then – an itch began. Was it a flea? Was it some sort of nit? Silas couldn’t help it. He took a hand off the controls and with one arm he briefly scratched.

It wasn’t exactly the right thing to do when flying in close formation at the Fort Worth Air Show.