I’m collecting metaphors, and documenting my own, in relation to how people process the world. It’s one of my background projects that percolates to the surface every now and then, like today when a few metaphors have clashed and come back to mind.

The one in particular that struck in a meta sense today is this scene from Malcolm in the Middle, where Hal, the Dad character goes about fixing a lightbulb.

In the video, Hal arrives home, flips a switch, and realises a lightbulb has broken. When going to get a replacement bulb, he finds a broken shelf. When getting a screwdriver to repair the shelf, he detects a squeaky draw. When grabbing spray oil for the draw, he discovers the can is empty. When starting the car to go and buy more oil, he hears an unhealthy engine rattle. When his wife arrives home and asks him to replace the bulb he emerges angrily from underneath his jacked up car with the engine hanging out and shouts “What does it look like I’m doing!”.

I can’t remember how I first saw the clip (as I never watch the show) but I do remember it was shared with the suggestion of how relatable it was.

The way I relate (which seems to be the same as many others in the YouTube comments) is in how metaphorically this represents every train of thought inside an ADHD type brain.

Case in point, this is where my attention has gone today after starting with pallets and being distracted by the branding and markings on them. More on that in my next post, when I chase this metaphorical digression back through container ships, design systems, pallet industry conventions, and YouTube maker conventions.