Clyde.
By Robert H. Hanson
LOGANVILLE, Ga. | About three years ago, I acquired the first house pets I’ve had in over 25 years. They were two kittens – litter mates – that I named Bonnie and Clyde.
Hanson
Bonnie and Clyde have grown from two adorable kittens into two very sweet, beautiful cats. They are great companions and a joy to me.
A few days ago, I was scanning some black and white photographic negatives to sell on eBay. I have a flat-plate scanner with a green bar that lights up and moves down the plate, scanning the subject – negative, photo, or document.
I leave the scanner lid up to scan negatives in order to get light behind the image. The sight of the moving green “bar” under the glass drives Clyde nuts. He doesn’t know what the scanner is, is afraid of it, and considers it an imminent threat to our household. He will generally jump onto a table beside my desk and watch very intently (and with grave suspicion) the activity taking place under the glass.
This particular day, Clyde, still being very frightened by and mistrustful of this monster, took matters into his own hands – er, paws. He eyed the machine with great suspicion, not to mention fear, and eventually began to swat at the scanner with his right paw. He did this several times until he lost his balance and fell off of the table. He immediately jumped back up and the battle resumed. He ultimately got onto the scanner with all four paws and who knows what damage he could have inflicted had I not intervened and taken him off the machine.
I thought it quite hilarious at the time, and took some photos of his antics. But when I thought about it later, I realized that Clyde was not playing with the machine. He was doing his dead-level best to defend his home and his housemates (his sister, Bonnie, and me) from this invading monster.
He is terrified of the machine, but still engaged it in battle. He fell off the table and could have called it quits, but he returned to the field to defend his home.
He was afraid – very much so – but engaged the opposition despite his fear.
That, folks, if the very definition of courage—engaging the threat despite any fears that one may have.
In these times, a lot of politicians could learn a lesson from Clyde.
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