Trigger Question #139:
Almost every morning, three German Shepherds pull me, and my wife, on a hike through a local park. All three are shelter dogs, rescued dogs, or whatever the current polite term is.
This being a local park and not the African bush, I have to play at being a dung beetle. They make the dung. I beetle it away. Into a bag and then into the trash.
Obviously, this reminds me of my hike in the African bush where I saw lots of dung baking in the sun. And many hyper dung beetles. Unlike me, they were very keen on the dung.
It also reminds me of the many dungsters (ha!) I have work with. And the few beetles, bless them, who cleaned up as best they could.
But here’s what still worries me. When is it dung and when is it something useful? When is it nonsense and when is it sense? And who decides which is which?
Well, you do!
And I do.
Because what is dung to me might be… Well, what is nonsense to me might make sense to you. And vice versa.
Which is why you, and I, should always check in with others. If you cannot convince them that what you see is clearly dung, then you have two options:
- Try to see it their way.
- Or be the dung beetle.
Remember, sometimes you’re the beetle and sometimes you’re the… I mean, sometimes you make the dung. That’s just the way it is.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
. . .