Today, I am thankful for those contingency plans that often mitigate a disaster.
A few weeks ago, on Christmas Eve, my family came home after a lovely night out with close friends. As we pulled into our driveway, we witnessed the blackout of all the festive lights in our neighborhood. So too did the Kartsonis lights go dark, but then something magically happened. Our generator started working, and within 10 seconds, the holiday lights on our Chirstmas tree and our external decorations were aglow. I’d like to think that jolly ole St. Nick choose to only visit our home that night, but I cannot confirm this point.
Nevertheless, the point I’m trying to make is that it is often wise to be prepared with a back-up plan. Many corporations have contingency plans in place, in the event of a cyber-incident, program failure, or personnel changeover. Our governments have similar succession plans, in the event a Vice President needs to be elevated to the highest office. Heck, even sports teams know the value of a good back-up plan. Have you ever heard of another St. Nick who played for the Eagles – Nicholas Edward Foles?
An amazing, historical example of a back-up plan took place over two centuries ago. One of the casualties of the US/British War of 1812 was that the deliberate burning of Washington DC by the Redcoats. In addition to the White House, the Library of Congress, which was located in the Capitol Building and housed 3000 volumes at that time, was razed. Thomas Jefferson, who at the time resided at his personal home (Monticello) after the culmination of his Presidency, offered his entire personal library of 6,500 volumes, most of which he had collated in Charlottesville from his vast European travels. In a gracious gesture, he offered to accept any valuation or payment terms that Congress deemed appropriate. On this day (Jan 30), Congress acted on this offer, paying a little more than $23K for the entire collection. Some of the collection from the original Jeffersonian library still remains at the Library of Congress.
The forefathers of the US realized the importance of contingency planning. Jefferson probably learned it from one of his elder statesmen, Benjamin Franklin. Indeed, Franklin said it best:
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