Searching for a “Pig Nose” All Afternoon

The world has changed so much. People said the analog age passed and the digital age arrived, and now they say we’re living in the age of artificial intelligence. These days, with just a smartphone, you can take care of almost anything. Still, there are times when you really need an iPad or a laptop. The laptop I use is LG’s Gram. True to its name, it’s pretty light—but the problem is that a computer never travels alone. The power cord, the adapter, and all the cables tag along. The laptop is light, but it has a big family.

Last week, when I tried to charge my laptop, I noticed that one of the prongs on the little plug adapter—the one that converts the Korean plug to fit an American outlet—had snapped off. The computer was perfectly fine, but because of one tiny broken piece, I couldn’t use it at all.

In life, small things sometimes stop big things in their tracks. No matter how nice a car is, it won’t move without a key. Glasses become useless if one tiny screw falls out. Even the Bible says, “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you’” (1 Cor. 12:21). Just because something is small doesn’t mean it’s useless. The funny thing was, I didn’t even know what that little part was called. When I looked it up online, I learned that in Korea people commonly call it a dwaeji-ko—a “pig nose.” When I looked closely at the picture, I saw why: the two holes really do look like a pig’s nostrils.

So last Saturday, I set out to find a pig nose. I went to Target, then Walmart, then Best Buy. I found things that looked similar, but they didn’t fit—or they were way too expensive. A tiny adapter cost six dollars, eight dollars, even more than ten. I spent half the day wandering around because of that little pig nose, but still couldn’t find the right one.

On my way home, I stopped by a Korean grocery store. My wife went to buy groceries, and I browsed the household goods aisle. There were spoons, chopsticks, scissors, pots—everything.

“Would they really have a pig nose here?” I wondered. But then, in the corner of the shelf, I saw something familiar. I walked closer, and sure enough—it was a pig nose. The exact one I had been searching for all day. And the price? Two dollars. I almost shouted “Hallelujah!” right there. I quickly bought two—one to use and one as a spare. A person gains wisdom after going through trouble. When I got home and plugged it in, it fit perfectly. Watching my laptop begin to charge, a thought came to mind.

Maybe we look for precious things too far away. We think happiness is far away, and good people are far away. So we wander here and there searching. But often, the truly precious things are very close to us. It’s not just objects—people too. The one who cooks for you, the one who calls when you’re having a hard time, the one who helps quietly, the one who has worked beside you for years, the one who prays for you. Sometimes they’re so close that we forget how precious they are.

The Bible says, “Give thanks in all circumstances” (1 Thess. 5:18). Maybe gratitude doesn’t begin with discovering something special far away, but with noticing the grace already given right beside us. After spending half a Saturday searching for a pig nose, I learned a small lesson: precious things aren’t always far away. So every now and then, instead of looking only into the distance, let’s look around us. And maybe say to the person nearby, “I’m truly grateful you’re here with me.”