What Our Attitudes About Pocketknives Say About Us
As a people, we have been carrying pocketknives for over 2500 years. The oldest pocketknives date back to the early Bronze Age. Ornate pocketknives have been found in the ruins of Pre-Roman Era Spain and many examples have been uncovered from Viking settlements dating back over 2000 years. It would be difficult to overstate the role the knife has played in the evolution of human civilization. In early America, knives cleared the path for westward expansion, skinned the animals that fed and clothed the pioneers, separated the fibers to make ropes, and spliced the wires that first lit our cities. The knife is arguably one of the most important and lasting of man’s inventions and their utility has been central to building the modern world.
I was seven when my dad gave me my first pocketknife. It was a beauty, an Old Timer folding knife with stag handles and 2 blades. Where I grew up it was normal, even expected, that a man would carry a pocketknife and although at seven I was far from being a man, most of the boys I knew carried one. My dad taught me to never be without a pocketknife, sage advice that has benefitted me almost daily. As a kid I’d use my knife to whittle shapes out of a piece of soft wood, cut up an apple, clean my fingernails or whatever. As I grew older, the tasks became more mundane; open a box, pry a staple loose, cut a piece of steak or strip a wire. Barely a day goes by that I don’t find use for my pocketknife, its been my constant companion and a tool that I, like many other people, rely on. I guess I could say that its difficult for me to really trust a man who is not prepared in the most basic way to accomplish the simple tasks he may face during the day.
I know that I’m not the only one who feels this way. The Boy Scout Motto of “Be Prepared” rings true to a lot of people. What many don’t know is that one of the first lessons a scout learns is to use a pocketknife. Early in their scouting journey, scouts earn their “Totin Chit” signifying that they’ve learned the important safety rules for responsible pocketknife ownership. For those who advance to the rank of Eagle Scout, the Buck Knife Company awards each scout a special Eagle Scout pocketknife as a testament to their dedication to always Be Prepared. In short, a pocketknife is an essential tool that every person should know how to use and should carry as they go about their day.
So, with all this history and tradition, how did our attitudes towards the pocketknife come to be where they are today? In September 2001 a group of terrorists used box cutters to hijack 4 civilian aircraft, driving three of them into their targets. As a society our reaction was swift vilification of the pocketknife. Several states including Massachusetts, Ohio and West Virginia have laws banning the carrying of a pocketknife with a locking blade, and in England, carrying a blade with a length of 3 inches or longer can get you thrown in jail! Pocketknives of any size are prohibited on airplanes, in most government buildings, in schools and in most workplaces. Read the employee handbook for almost any big company and it will plainly prohibit employees from having a pocketknife. Most kids today, even those in rural areas like the one I grew up in, have never owned a pocketknife, many young men don’t carry one, and in a lot of situations today having a pocketknife on your person can get you fired, expelled from school, arrested or shot. How did we get here? How has a tool once so commonplace evolved into such a threat? How have we as a society become so frightened that a simple pocketknife can inflict such angst? Why are we as a society so comfortable being so unprepared for the simple tasks that come our way every day?
Personally, I don’t think it has anything to do with the pocketknife. The angst doesn’t stem from the knife but from how we view each other. We used to be a community of people; we felt a kinship within our own communities. We didn’t immediately feel threatened by other people, wondering when and how they were going to mistreat us. We knew that hurtful people were the exception, not the norm and we felt safe. Today we feel unsafe. The media adage that if it bleeds it leads has distorted our perception of reality. The actions of the smallest minority of people are amplified and broadcasted and their behavior is seen as the new normal. Many of us have never met our neighbors, we’ve become isolated from reality and slaves to a media machine that accentuates the basest behaviors of our citizenry. The fact that nearly every one of us are kind, decent, and honest has been completely ignored. The predictable result is a society of hyper-sensitive people filled with fear, always waiting for the next bad thing.
So, what are we to do? If we are to regain a sense of community and trust, then we must start by trusting our community. Those early settlers who cleared the path, made the ropes and spliced the wires, used their pocketknives to build the structures that formed their communities. They used the tools of the day to do the work of the day. Today our work looks different than in pioneering times, and many jobs don’t require the use of a pocketknife. The lesson however is the same, be willing and be prepared to do the work that needs to be done to build the community that you want to live in. It’s up to you! Tune out the hypersensitive media frenzy, go outside and meet your neighbors. If we want a community, we have to create it. Building that community takes individual effort. Start by being prepared for your day. Leave your home prepared to help another human being in their time of need and encourage others to do the same. You don’t need a pocketknife to do that, preparation is an attitude that you can take with you even when you have nothing else. Having a good pocketknife wouldn’t hurt though.
