8d • General discussion
Turkey Talks
Yesterday morning, as I was cruising down the highway on my way to church, I noticed something strange. A minivan was stopped dead in the middle of an off-ramp, and a Pontiac Vibe was stopped directly behind it. My first thought was, "Uh oh! Road rage!"
As I proceeded further, the minivan very slowly inched forward and then drove off. Now that the van was no longer blocking my view, I could clearly see the problem. A massive male turkey, feathers fully on show, was impeding the flow of traffic. As I passed the interchange, I could see the Vibe very slowly and carefully trying to get around the turkey so as not to harm it.
Immediately, my brain went into overdrive. Here are my thoughts in order of appearance and with no apology for their randomness.
1) "That driver could just "bop" the turkey, and Easter dinner would be taken care of."
2) Imagine if a tractor trailer had rounded that corner at speed - poor turkey wouldn't even know what hit him.
3) That is when my thoughts travelled to the lesson. Isn't it interesting that a wild turkey, though large, is not larger or stronger than a mini-van or even a compact car? That didn't stop him from getting out in the middle of the road and trying to intimidate traffic. Not only that - he was successful!
I got thinking that bullies are like that. They often look for someone more formidable, more talented, more resilient, more empathetic than themselves, and they target them. They puff themselves up, make a lot of noise, act threatening, and they count on the empathy and compassion of others to protect them from reprisals or from getting hammered by their bigger, stronger, smarter opponent.
The next time you find yourself facing a bully, remember, bullies are just turkeys who aren't smart enough to consider the fact that their next challenge might be the tractor trailer that rubs them out without a second thought. Stand in your power. That doesn't mean giving up your empathy or compassion, but use it wisely. Know when you need to hold your own or demand the right of way. Often, the puffy feathers and big noise is just for show - in the end, it's just turkey talk.
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Turkey Talks
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