Re: I'm Convinced
OD;
I've always boiled it down to two types - those who learn from others, and those that have to learn the hard way.
Beth;
Your story is too funny, and brought to mind one of my own that I just have to relate (y'all can decide if this makes me type 2 or 3 on OD's list)

:
A number of years ago, the wife and I decided to raise hogs for ourselves and a few friends / neighbors. We had about 8 or 9 of them. All went well, and they soon were up to 300+ lbs. As the appointed day for them to meet their demise approached (the processor we selected scheduled date AND time for you to deliver your animals MONTHS in advance) we realized they might not be so easy to persuade onto the stock trailer.
So, we enlisted her brother to come give us a hand getting them on the trailer and, even though our appointment wasn't till 1:00 in the afternoon, decided we'd best get an early start in case things didn't go easily.
7AM we were out to their pen and started every tactic we could devise to persuade, cajole, tempt, intimidate, and otherwise convince those hogs to get into the trailer.
11AM all we had accomplished was wearing ourselves and our patience out, running ourselves completely out of ideas, littering the trailer floor with everything from hog feed to fruity pebbles and Ding Dongs (their favorites), and learning that one adult pig can lift a section of hog panel with two adult peoples standing on it with only his snout !
Call in the reinforcements ! Added a neighbor who came over with a stout hickory stick and, in short order, helped us to accomplish nothing at all with the possible exception of tenderizing a few ham-hocks (don't TOUCH those precious hams !).
12:15 If we didn't leave in 10 or 15 minutes, we were going to miss our appointment, and that would mean waiting several months for a new appointment to get these beasties to the butcher. All of a sudden, I got a brain-storm ! CALL THE GUY WE BOUGHT 'EM FROM ! Asked him: "Pat, how the devil do you get a bunch of 300 lb pigs to go where they do not want to go ?"
He gave me his answer, and in less than 10 minutes, we had 'em all loaded up and on their way !
Turns out, if you slip a 5 gallon pail over a pigs head, he/she will be SO hell-bent on backing out of that bucket that you can grab their stubby little tail and steer them absolutely anywhere you want them to go - In REVERSE !
Diggem'