A fun read. I do think it's possible to learn this lesson too well, though. Sometimes it really is better to just cut your losses, and the only thing stopping you is pride.
I see why this got downvoted because it seems rude at a superficial glance. I vouched for it because I think it's worth discussing a very important distinction here.
What's important isn't that you tilt at windmills or beat a dead horse. Notice that nowhere in the story does either her or her daughter suggest the other do the work to fix it.
The importance is in recognizing what you truly want. Sometimes people don't have the self reflection, perception, or foresight to realize the joy they might get out of some damn hard work.
Also this comment has an interesting vibe in the classical "pride is bad" sense. I think it can be bad in the sense that it usually describes like a narcissist kind of pride when it's used negatively. But this is clearly a justified pride in oneself-- pride in not only overcoming adversity, but enjoying it immensely.
Well, I used the word "sometimes" for a reason, not to say that this story was one of those times. It does feel good to do this kind of involved work sometimes, I completely agree. My admonition is that just because it feels good doesn't always make it the right move.
And yeah, I think it's bad to let pride get in the way of doing what makes sense. Just crazy like that I guess!
I think it might depend on your goals - the old, "The Journey is the Reward" chestnut.
She mentioned a couple of times that she went into the tangle because she wanted to, that she hadn't had to "bail a loom out of a major temper tantrum" in a while.
To be sure, recovering the 1 1/2 yard Shetland warp and other materials would in no way compensate 10 hours of labor - but that presumes there's nothing to learn from the process.
I want to say something surly about how accountants have driven software development to losing its soul in pursuit of dollars but ... that's not going to end constructively. =D So instead I'll just say I really admire the attitude of, "I can fix that. It will take more time than it's worth but screw the economics of it all, I'm going to do it anyway. Fsck you, entropy."
True that. But, in this case (and many others), the decision is impacted by both the sunk cost fallacy (your point), but also the "I don't like looking at that mess I made so let's just throw it out" fallacy. Just because it makes you feel bad looking at it, doesn't mean throwing it out is the best answer. Sometimes, jumping in and spending the time is the best answer.
Of course, if there's a rule for how to avoid both of those errors, I haven't found it. But it's helpful at least to know that they both exist.
