Doing the Right Thing
I guess all of us as adults have had to do the right thing. You know what I mean, setting aside our own personal interest for the good of others, especially our children. Well, I don’t have children at home anymore that need me on a day to day basis. (And sometimes I love that freedom and other times I miss those poignant times: sweet kisses and hugs, troubles and victories, giggles and tears…and then there are those other days, when I ‘m glad I can throw care to the wind, get on my bike and just sail off down the hill.) Recently, I exercised good judgment, accountability, and considerate behavior (Oh, mercy , I sound like Mother Teresa.) Remember in an earlier post, I mentioned Tinker, my Meyer parrot, the one who is supposed to be as smart as a two-year-old and whistles for Sparky and laughs when he comes. Well, Tinker loves company. His cage, which is more of a palace because it is about five feet tall, is in the very center of our somewhat large and busy living area at home in Idaho where the early sun wakes him each morning. He loves action. He watches the dogs’ running in and about all day, and if someone comes through the door or intrudes uninvited into the back yard, he sounds the alarm, as good as any high-tech security system, with much squawking, wild whistling, and feather flapping. Well, I was going to bring Tinker to Washington with me. ‘Was’ is the operative word. He was packed. His food was in the car, his carrying case was clean and ready. Then that morning when I pulled out, I felt sorry for that little bird. He didn’t ask to have a new job in a new state. He didn’t ask to leave the comfort of his morning sun and his bright cage with all his toys to live in a much smaller apartment, in something much less than palatial. He didn’t ask, while I am at work, to be left by himself – all day – with a CAT. So, I left him with my husband with his heartfelt promise to take good care of Tinker, to feed him apples, without the peel, every day. And so my considerateness, my setting aside of personal interest, unselfish behavior, thinking of the good for others got the better of me. And today, I’m wishing I had been less considerate, less self-sacrificing, less setting aside of personal interest for the good of others. I did the right thing. And right now, I can’t imagine why. It’s just a bird.
August 24, 2008 at 3:15 pm
You write so poignently! I have tears in my eyes…and I understand completely. However I hate to tell you that this is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that you will give up what you want for others. There will be many more of those moments when you will wish you were not so considerate, self-sacrificing, and looking out for the good of others. As long as I’ve known you, you’ve always done the right thing. That’s why Tinker and Sparky are so special. You’ve made them that way by how you care for them.