Save Early, Save Often

"Save early, Save often." This should be your daily mantra. There are many ways in life to apply this aphorism. But for now, think computers. Have you ever lost an entire night's work of typing a thesis, a proposal, a book, just because you neglected to hit "Save"? And sure, you could blame the computer for its shortcomings, but are you any better off after having slammed the keyboard or shouted at a darkened display that's reflecting the faint, glassy image of the nutjob heaving in front of it? Back in the founding days of our founding nation, our founding fathers might have invented a maxim that would have kept people in check from repeatedly doing stupid things, as many of us today are accustomed to doing. "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man... blah blah blah."

Imagine Ben Franklin losing an entire year's unpublished edition of his popular Poor Richard's Almanac because his supersized inkwell tipped over while he was playing "man about town," dazzling the locals with pithy pearls that generations later would inspire countless Fortune Cookie writers. Imagine what he'd say upon returning to the homestead to find his work completely saturated with ink, every single word obliterated, knowing full well that each time he had previously risen from his work, he'd think something along the lines of "I really should move my inkwell further from my scroll. But first, tea!"

If this incident had actually taken place, and historians are in debate, then Ben Franklin might have coined a wise saying that today would convince us to routinely press the Save key. And it might have gone something like this:

Save early, Save often or
Forsooth, you will find an early coffin

I use the word "forsooth" for historical accuracy because my research indicates that the people of Colonial America used it back then the way we use words like "really" and "you know."

So please, whether your views on the Constitution may be of a strict constructionist or interpretationist, know that our founding fathers can't save you from yourselves. Save early, Save often.