This tall tale was a theme throughout the forty years of my working life thanks to a brilliant analogy from my husband Keith. Here is the story...

THE TALE OF THE PIG WITH A WOODEN LEG

A man is driving along the countryside when he notices a farmer sitting on his front porch petting a pig. He notices the pig has a wooden leg. Consumed by curiosity, he knows there must be an interesting story here. He stops to chat and asks the farmer how the pig got the wooden leg.

“This is one amazing pig,” says the farmer. “He saved my life. A few weeks back, I was driving my tractor through the field after some heavy rain and one of the wheels hit a deep rut and tipped over on top of me. I couldn’t move and I could hardly breathe. I was growing faint and I knew I would likely die if I didn’t get help fast. I cried out as best I could, but I knew no one could hear me.

Suddenly, I see this pig rushing toward me. He dug and dug with all his might until I was able to shimmy my body out from under the tractor. That pig saved my life!” 

The man says, “Wow, that is an amazing pig, but it still doesn't explain how he got the wooden leg.” 

The farmer answers, “Are you kidding?  A great pig like that! You don’t eat him all at once!”

Keith drew the cartoon for me years ago. I kept it in my office as a reminder of its deeper meaning. You see, having grown up as a girl in the United States in the 50’s, and going to work at Mercury Marine on an engineering internship was like being dropped into a foreign country. I didn’t know the cultural rules and felt lost. I could tell I was sometimes treated differently, marginalized, patted on the head. I was frustrated and crestfallen.

It was about that time in the early 1980’s that we first heard the joke about the pig. Keith landed on the tale as a fitting analogy to help me understand my situation.

After my tearful rides home from work, Keith explained that I didn’t understand how the world worked. “Mary, you are like the pig with the wooden leg. You’re an amazing pig.  You are so amazing, Mercury is letting you drive the tractor.  You see them all pointing to you saying what a magnificent pig you are, amazed at the sight of you behind that wheel. Most of the other pigs don’t get to do that. The farmers all think you should be grateful. They’re confused why you think you can be one of the farmers. That just can’t happen. It’s not personal. It’s just that, well, you’re a pig.”

But, eventually, I did get to be a farmer - and I hoped if I was amazing, they wouldn’t eat me all at once. (It was a very happy ending, by the way).