There’s an old expression that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
As a child, I remember looking at my aging Labrador retriever, Rufus, and thinking: “Are you telling me I can’t get Rufus to roll over or play dead if I try?”
Of course, I eventually realized the expression isn’t really about dogs. It’s about people getting stuck in their ways as they grow older.
There’s certainly some truth to that. To the detriment of my poor wife, I’ve become increasingly stubborn with age. She’ll sometimes say, “Why don’t you take that road over there? It’ll be faster.” I’ll reply, “This is the way I always get there. I’m used to it.”
That stubbornness nearly cost me the two best things in my life: my son and daughter. I insisted for the longest time that I didn’t want children, but eventually gave in to my wife on the matter. Boy (and girl), am I glad I did.
The expression can also suggest that older people have a harder time learning new skills.
That was an idea I wrestled with when I was considering a move to Slave Lake to take on the editor’s role at The Leader. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly. I was returning to Canada after living in Taiwan for 11 years, and although I was bringing more than a decade of newsroom experience with me, there were plenty of things I had never done.
I had edited, written news and editorials, worked the desk and translated. But I had never laid out a newspaper page for print. I had no experience with imaging software. There was a time when even writing a news story was new to me. Back then, I approached the challenge with zest and enthusiasm. But could I do the same now, in my late 40s?
In recent years, perhaps as part of what was undoubtedly a mid-life crisis, I’ve tried a variety of new things: riding a motorcycle, driving a manual-transmission car, skateboarding and, most recently, getting reacquainted with the guitar.
I’ve had mixed success with all of them. But there was one important difference: I wasn’t doing any of them for money. Could I make a major move and accept a salary for something I wasn’t even sure I could do?
In the weeks leading up to the move, I had bouts of anxiety, not just about learning new software, but about readjusting to life in Canada after so long abroad. Still, I was coming home. I love Canada, and I wanted to share that experience with my Taiwanese wife and our two children.
After a month at The Leader, I feel I’ve made good progress. But I didn’t get here through some innate ability to pick things up quickly. I got here because the people at the paper patiently helped me, and because I was willing to keep trying when I didn’t get something right the first time.
That, I think, is the real lesson.
You can, in fact, teach an old dog new tricks. All it takes is a willingness to fail, the determination to keep trying and the humility to accept help when you need it.
I get by with a little help from my friends.
Commentary by
William Hetherington
