In today's society it is unfortunate that most people don't pay attention to "little details". After all, our great government teaches us to paint with a broad brush. As long as most are covered that should be good enough. Let me tell you a different story.
Upon rebuilding our flooded home we encountered a repeating problem...."one inch". Our home is only ten years old but a decade is enough to change construction habits. Our new doors came with frames that were an inch smaller. No biggie right? Well when you have an inch around every door in your house without texture....yes it's a big deal. The worst by far was the bathrooms. Vanities are now one inch deeper and three inches wider in home construction. Let me tell you the personal nightmare of turning all your plumbing sideways to match new vanities. For the record I HATE plumbing. A disaster of sideways plumbing, extra holes in the wall and holes in cabinetry. Then after all the frustration of forcing it all to work, let your wife walk and immediately she sees her mirror is now an inch off center. I can't tell you how many tears were shed, because I can't count that high.
The recent gun argument has reminded me of President Ronald Reagan being shot. The deranged John Hinkley waited until the President was waving to shoot him under the arm to do the most damage. The doctors said the bullet stopped less than an inch from his main aorta. The greatest President of our generation lived another thirty something years knowing the value of an inch. A friend recently reminded me of the up coming anniversary of the Challenger disaster. I was in High School and the words, "go with throttle up" can never be erased from my memory. The ensuing investigation revealed that the solid rocket booster O rings had frozen and created a crack estimated between an inch and a inch and a half. That inch cost seven astronauts their lives, including a school teacher named Christie MacCauliff.
The next time someone says, "what's the big deal? it's just an inch". Tell them that an inch can be the biggest difference their lives have ever seen.
