have scrubs, will write

“A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.

Specialization is for insects."

The quote above by sci-fi author Robert A. Heinlein was one I bumped into as I reviewed my friend’s facebook profile. Heinlein’s stimulating aphorism evoking human beings possessing some seemingly dichotomous competencies as writing sonnets and balancing accounts or changing diapers and butchering hogs seem to coincide with this contemporary penchant for the multi-skilled and multi – talented individuals. Today, humans acquire more capabilities and pursue a variety of interests than ever as the more hats an individual wears, the more noteworthy he/she becomes. Gerard Butler, for instance - a lawyer and a hunk of an actor has singing abilities which wasn't bad at all; or Khaled Hosseini - that bestselling author, incidentally, is a medical doctor by profession. The rise of the super men and women will certainly persist. Can we then embrace and mystify multi-tasking rather than quell it?

Dr. Hosseini must have remarked “have scrubs, will write” and write he did with his scrubs on.