Keeping order is a sign of excellence

Once, there were researchers in an abandoned area, trying to study the rarest beast in the world. No one had seen it, and its existence was only known by characteristic calls like one of a dog but much louder.The ’beast’ was a nocturnal creature, so during the day the researchers would pass their time studying other matters or in discussion.The most remarkable of them was Thiery. Every day, before tea, he would spend an hour sitting at his desk, putting all his equipment and bits and pieces in their proper place. The notebook went right at the far edge of the desk, on the right hand side, slightly beyond the recorder, the lamp was always towards the end of the desk, next to the camera, on the left... and so it was with all his things, even with the smallest of details.The researchers spent many nights in that area before the creature appeared, and before it did so some of them even doubted its existence. It appeared suddenly, while everything was quiet.Only a few metres away, the scientists heard its call loud and clear. It lasted only an instant, because all the commotion of the researchers scrabbling for their cameras and notebooks scared the creature, and it shot off before it could apparently be seen or studied in any detail.The next morning they all compared their findings. Some had managed to record its call, others had noted down how it moved, and the most fortunate of all had even managed to photograph parts of its tail or legs. They all congratulated each other on what they had got, but when they saw what Theiry had, they were shocked. He had taken several complete photos, as well as recording its cry, and making full observations on the creature!They ran to congratulate him as the best researcher of them all. They now understood that his obsession with order had been the best way to prepare himself for working in the dark.