Bridges: Practical, Philosophical, Political

(also, pretty)

If it is imperative that a body of water or steep valley be crossed, than a bridge is a fine way to traverse such obstacles.

Spread across uneven topography, and connecting disjointed lands, bridges have infiltrated the earth. We don't know when bridges first appeared, but we are fairly sure that, much like fences and mailboxes, they were brought here by other worldly beings - bless their green tentacles and numerous heads. Little did the aliens realise just how influential and innate bridges would become in the lives of humans. Thriving civilizations have evolved around unintentionally strategically placed bridges. But, more importantly, their enchanting loftiness has infused bridges with metaphysical qualities, which, in turn, have given rise to Bridge Philosophy.

You know what I'm talking about - "I'll cross that bridge when I come to it", "Don't burn your bridges", "Building bridges", "Too many bridges spoil the river" etc. It would be a pointless endeavour trying to find a dilemma unable to be wisely guided by Bridge Philosophy.

I think the bridge philosophy which I strive most to have embody and enrich my life is: I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. As a slightly anally retentive introvert, I have a tendency to overthink situations, to ruminate upon every single possible outcome (good and bad, but mostly bad) that could possibly happen were I to go ahead with, say, walking to the shops to get some milk (or maybe catfood, or maybe milk AND catfood). Which can make getting things done - indeed, living - a little prohibitive. So, to combat my ponderous inertia, and maybe even infuse a tranquil sensibility into my being, I've amended the bridge philosophy: I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, or, if it turns out there is no bridge - but I still need to cross the river - I'll see if I can find a canoe, or maybe a raft, or, worst-case scenario, I can always continue along the riverbank until I find a shallow section and wade across...PLUS, it may turn out that I don't need to cross that darn river anyway.

Bridges also offer a symbolic representation of societies' inequalities, in terms of unequal distribution of wealth (ie wages) and status. Earth engineers, having thoroughly studied many alien bridge structures, have been able to reverse-engineer and, thus, construct design blueprints for the building of new, terrestrial-made bridges. Then, Earth construction workers, using these design blueprints, have toiled for countless hours, at great personal risk - some have been seriously injured and some have died - to build the bridges. Both the engineers and the construction workers have worked hard. They've employed different skills and abilities - all necessary - to ensure that a safe and usable bridge has been built. But each group is valued differently, engineers are paid more and have a higher social status than construction workers. The mental dexterity required to understand complex maths and physics is placed above the physical (and mental) dexterity required to put together a complex structure, when neither ability is inherently "better" than the other. It makes me cranky.

So, next time you find yourself moseying across a bridge, don't think of it as just a conduit to get you from point A to point B, for a bridge is so much more.