Prophylaxis

"I might get some walking sticks," I told my brother when we were in Maine. "Not to walk with!" I added quickly.

"Why would you get them then?" he asked.

"To have in my pack in case someone needed them," I explained. 

I was trying to be proactive, but there were so many walking sticks to choose from in the shops, that I decided it would be best to do some research before I bought anything. "Look on Wirecutter," my sister suggested when I mentioned it to her, and that seemed like very good advice.

"Do you ever use walking sticks?" my friend Ruth asked me at the end of that week.

"That's so funny you should ask," I said, and recounted my earlier conversations. "Do you ever use them?"

"No," she laughed, "I'm too clumsy. I'm afraid if I had anything in my hands to think about I might kill myself! But my sister uses them all the time because she has bad knees."

I nodded and tried to picture myself hiking with one or more of the sticks, but I just couldn't see it. 

Even so, I did look on Wirecutter when I got home, and I found a pair that were not only well-rated, they could also be used as poles for the expensive lightweight tent the company also sells. 

I am now the proud owner of a couple of high-end walking sticks, and who knows? 

I might even use them for something!