Carry the One

There are a lot of lessons I learned in school that I never thought I would use, but do on a regular basis:

* A "Please?" will get you farther than a <push>.

* Punctuation changes everything.

* Asking to use the restroom.

There are also a lot of lessons that were drilled so deeply that I thought I would never break free of them, but find myself lacking in any real-world scenarios in which to apply them:

* Solving for X and Y.

* Diagramming sentences.

* The names of the counties in my state, set to a catchy tune.**

But one concept that I have been growing out of since my graduations (I say "s" because I start to regress after graduation, and then get better when I enroll in another program) is Carrying the One.

I have *always* had a soft spot for math. In first grade, my teacher played an April Fool's prank on us and handed out third-grade multiplication sheets for us to struggle with. After handing them out everyone laughed and she started collecting them again. Much to my chagrin, she took mine back after I had finished the first three questions already, and was steaming forward (I got very upset). After I had finished my math courses for college, I would find myself seeking out empty classrooms where I knew math was taught, hoping for some series of equations on the board for me to play with in my notebook. It's just that crunching numbers gives me a thrill - knowing that, in the end, you will always find an irrefutable answer that will not change despite the tests of time and the wonkiness of language. (Despite this fact, Engineering is simply not the field for me. You know where you stand with numbers. With Engineers... notsomuch.)

However, I do attempt - as a grown up - to do most math in my head. Large columns of numbers get tallied on paper. Decimal places get double checked on a calculator. But simple addition is usually straightforward and easy for me.

Which is why I found it odd, while working through some redlines for a Dear EngineerFriend today, to come across this:

At first I thought it was a writing issue. Sometimes EngineerFriends can have some pretty wonky handwriting, and it just gets difficult to decipher what they're trying to say. Easily fixed, I simply tracked down another co-worker who works with this particular EngineerFriend on a regular type of basis and asked her thoughts on the matter. After a short pause, she looked at me and said:

"He carried the one."

More pause (on my part) before I said 

"I'm sorry?"

"He carried the one. You know. Like math class."

We all giggled as realization dawned. I toddled back to my desk and immediately sat down with a smile that someone so high on the proverbial food chain still follows the rules he learned as a six-year-old.

And suddenly, the whole day seemed a little Sunnier.

**

(Set to "Yankee Doodle")

The sixteen counties in our state are               (Yankee Doodle went to town)

Cumberland and Franklin                                (Riding on a pony)

Piscataquis and Kennebec                             (Stuck a feather in his hat)

Oxford, Androscoggin.                                   (And called it Macaroni.)

Waldo, Washington and York                         (Yankee Doodle, keep it up)

Lincoln, Knox and Hancock                            (Yankee Doodle Dandy)

Sagadahoc and Somerset                              (Yankee Doodle, keep it up)

Aroostook and Penobscot!                             (And to the girls be handy!)