If You Find Yourself In A Hole, Why You Should KEEP Digging

In Paradox We Trust: Sometimes, our best alternative is the opposite of our accepted logic. 

Thought Things First: And sometimes, it's important to analyze typically accepted wisdom. We have all heard the adage:

"If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." --Will Rogers
<If you find yourself in a hole, keep digging.">>

New Year, New Privy

It was late August 1974, the Friday before college classes began. It was a hot and humid day in the farmlands. 

During the two-hour drive to his next dig site, Professor Billy Joe McDonald had been listening to Higher Ground on his 8-track player. The song had a positive message, and in those times of political unrest, war, and civil rights, he found the lyrics not only engaging but relaxing. He liked that, so he bought the tape and listened to it over and over and over.

Professor McDonald specialized in Americana and rural American history by excavating foundations, fireplaces, root cellars, barns, and privies. Privy digging is searching, locating, and exploring the contents of defunct outhouse bathrooms. 

Thar's Gold In Them Thar Stools: He usually found the most interesting artifacts in old outhouses. The purpose of privy digging is to salvage everyday household artifacts from the past. This can include trash that may have been thrown or dropped down a privy shaft. Findings can include broken plates, antique bottles, broken tools, discarded toys, coins, and more. Professor McDonald once found an 1861-D Confederate gold dollar.

"It's a short trip from the penthouse to the outhouse." --Paul Dietzel

In-Deed: Professor McDonald would review old recorded deeds of land and attempt to identify where homes were on large plots of farmland, and he'd recently secured exploration rights on a 50+ acre abandoned farm. The land had been under the family's ownership for generations but no one had worked it in years. He had identified a section of the farm that looked to have previously had a large home plus some additional quarters.

Privy Information: Privies can be constructed of stone, brick, wood, or simply a hole in the ground. Some privy vaults were shallow, less than two feet deep, while other privies could be as deep as 25 feet if they were to accommodate many residents. Larger privies could be as wide as 10 feet. 

After many hours of searching viable areas, Professor McDonald found a privy hole. Sometimes, he would find somewhat intact privies. This time though, there were a few decaying boards on the ground, and the hole was heavily overgrown with plants. There also was no wood or stone to support it -- just very compact soil.

"The only job where you start at the top is when you're digging a hole." --Unknown

Professor McDonald took out his shovel, laid on his belly, and used the shovel as a probe to see how deep and soft the privy floor was. It looked at least 10 feet deep, but it was hard to tell even with his flashlight. 

He reached into the hole and stretched the shovel to hit the bottom. "Just a little bit more," he thought as he scooted up to his rib cage and leaned over the hole.

It's About To Go Down: The ground suddenly gave way and Professor McDonald and his shovel tumbled down into the hole. His leg landed on the shovel shaft and was bruised, but he thankfully was otherwise unharmed.

He Was In Deep Sh*t: It was at least 10 feet to daylight. His ladder was still in his truck and he was by himself. There was no use yelling, and he knew that no one would even notice he was gone until Monday morning class.

He started to think that he could die here. <"Life is like a roll of toilet paper: the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.">>

Surveying the bottom of the privy for useful items, he found bits of pottery, a broken tobacco pipe, and a dog skeleton -- items that weren't of much use given his predicament.

Bottoms Up: First, Professor McDonald tried to create 'ladder steps' and climb the walls. While the soil was compacted, the dirt just wasn't strong enough to hold his body weight. Worse yet, the hole was too wide for him to brace his back to one side of the wall and his feet to the other. It was starting to appear hopeless.

Dig Deep: "How can I dig up this shaft?" he asked himself. <Who's the cat that won't cop out when there's danger all about?>>

When you hit rock bottom, you can only go up. 

The answer suddenly struck him. He heard the lyrics in his mind: <Gonna keep on tryin', 'til I reach my highest ground.">>

The Reverse Flush: The professor immediately knew how to escape the privy: he would raise the floor by digging the sides of the shaft and letting the soil fall to the ground, slowly placing him closer to the exit hole.

Can You Dig It? There was a lot of digging to do. <Believers keep on believin', um yeah.">> He would brush the dirt off his face and hair, then shake his shirt, pants, and boots to make sure all the soil continued to rise.

Professor McDonald spent the rest of the afternoon and evening digging away at the side of the privy shaft. The shaft got wider, but at least the floor was inching closer and closer to freedom. There were a few cave-ins as he dug to the side and above his head, but those dirt-falls simply moved him closer to his freedom.

<"Who knew you would have to start digging at the bottom to get to the top?">>

Before midnight, he had created a raised floor with an incline and he was close enough to the top where he climbed his way out.

As he walked over to his truck, he remembered a line from the song: <Til I reach my highest ground.">>

Riker's Law: He also learned a valuable lesson about privy hunting: don't do it alone. <Yeah, always bring along a solid number two! That's Riker's Law.">>

The Law of A**Holes: In any given room, place, or space, there is always at least one a**hole.

The Law of A**Holes - Corollary: If someone surveys their surroundings and they don't see any a**holes, then they are the a**hole. 

Back Thoughts

Thoughtercise: What has happened to you and your life that has been unfair, surprising, or adverse? Or, how did you or how can you overcome that obstacle to find the opportunity?

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