BlogGer: ​ABOUT Being

Richard Wilberg: Creativity Coach and Musician
  • Home
  • Coaching
  • Music
  • Photography
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact

Sometimes Chickens Are Wrong

4/5/2018

6 Comments

 
Picture
​Ridgeway, Wisconsin
Like tranquil whitecaps float on a sea of green, chickens bob and dip, bob and dip as they scratch and peck for food on a hillside pasture. “How many chickens do you have?” I ask.

“About 30,” he replies. “We have names for most of them.”
 
“How can you tell them apart? They all look the same.”
 
“Yeah, at first all you might see is a bunch of white chickens. But, when you look closely you’ll learn their differences. See that hen over there with the gimpy leg? We call her Peggy. Or, see that one with the grey tail? Her name is Ashes.”
 
“Yes, I see differences,” I say.
 
“Chickens tolerate minor differences among themselves like a limp or a grey tail,” he continues. “But, if they sense a mortal difference, such as a serious illness or a weakness that could decimate the flock, they will destroy the perceived threat. Sometimes chickens are wrong.”
 
I lean forward. “What do you mean by wrong?”
 
We move to the fence. “See this chicken feed? It’s grain meal with a small amount of protein and amino acids. Chickens are omnivores. They free-range at daytime and may scratch up a few worms and bugs. Most of their diet, however, is the meal I provide when I coop them up at night.”
 
“One evening, when I was shooing them into the coop, one of the hens must have scratched her eye on the chicken wire at the gate. I didn’t notice her injury at the time. We have a video camera to monitor the coop for foxes and weasels. I looked at the video the next day.”
 
He pauses and grips the fence. “At first the chickens didn’t notice the hen’s scratched eye until it started to bleed. First one and then another hen began to peck at her injured eye. Other chickens pecked, more blood flowed. The hen with the injury wobbled back from the feeder. For a time the others let her alone. Then additional chickens started to peck at the injured one’s wing feathers. In the close quarters of the chicken coop, attacks escalated. More hens joined the riot and soon the wounded bird fell to the coop floor. Chickens stomped on her prone body. Feathers were stripped and they ate her flesh. All that remained was blood, bones, and feathers on the chicken coop floor.”
 
Amtrak Westbound
“Looks like you’re writing music,” the young man says as he slides into the seat of the dining car across the table from me. “I’m Sammy. May I join you?”
 
“Of course, I’m Richard. I compose lounge music interspersed with quick paced, house music. It’s an unusual combination, but it’s my style. Are you a musician?”
 
The dining car lurches. Sammy grips the table and leans toward me. “I compose house music too. Do you know about The Warehouse, the origin of house music in Chicago? I did my best work there.”
 
“Yes… I’ve heard of it,” I say. “I lived in Chicago in the 70s and 80s. I hung out at a club in Schaumburg, owned by Walter Peyton, the Chicago Bear’s running back. Do you remember his club, Studebakers?  House music was the rage. House reminded me of disco. I was a disco fan until disco disappeared. What killed disco?”
 
“Disco was perceived as gay music by some straight, white, Christian rock and roll bands,” Sammy says. “Do you remember a Chicago-area rock and roll radio station’s promotional event that urged fans to bring disco albums to a White Sox game? Fans were asked to stomp on disco albums between games of a double-header at Comiskey Park. The event was billed as Disco Demolition Night. The stomp was a disaster. Cooped up in the close quarters of the infield, fans rioted. The park was cleared and the second game was cancelled.”
 
If this essay is meaningful, please like or tweet below or leave a comment. Thank you for your interest and possible action you may take.
 
Richard Wilberg, MS, PLCC, ACC 
Coach for Personal Fulfillment and Career Success

6 Comments
Wayne W. Brabender
4/10/2018 12:54:45 pm

Richard, I love the way you weave the two items together into a coherent whole. As you point out, chickens can be wrong, but so can people. :-) Keep it up. Thanks.

Reply
Richard
4/12/2018 03:36:43 pm

Thanks, Wayne, we are all one big flock of creatures who share common characteristics!

Reply
Jody Whelden link
5/7/2018 09:51:13 am

Nature has a balance system which is meant to work for the better of the whole, and so it does in these stories, although with no true need in the chickens case. Humanity is different - we have contrast which teaches us and we have capacity to make choices. As people act and perceive others actions we can choose to make different choices. And so evolves humanity. The contrast is often difficult, but it is also the grit that moves us forward to better days.

Reply
Richard
5/14/2018 12:28:10 pm

Jody,
Ah, yes, choice. So well said. With choice goes responsibility. A commitment to see beyond bias so that we don't act like chickens without thought. Thanks for your observation.

Reply
Vanessa
7/23/2018 09:07:27 pm

They are brilliant! Site bookmarked! You got a fan here❤

Reply
Richard
7/26/2018 07:10:37 am

Vanessa,
Thank you. Please follow announcements of new blog posts on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. I appreciate knowing that you are a fan! My next blog post will be today or tomorrow.
Richard

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About the Author

    Picture
    I write personal essays, creative non-fiction, flash fiction, and self-development articles from my home in  Madison, Wisconsin.

    Archives

    January 2022
    October 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014

    Categories

    All
    Acceptance
    Aging
    Alternatives
    Anomie
    Appreciation
    Assertiveness
    Assumptions
    Avoidance
    Awareness
    Balance
    Baseball
    Behavior
    Being
    Betrayal
    Blame
    Brand
    Careerdevelopment
    Career Development
    Caregiving
    Certainty
    Change
    Choices
    Coexistence
    Commitments
    Communication
    Compacency
    Compassion
    Conflict
    Conversation
    Creativity
    Crowd Behavior
    Customer Experience
    Dating
    Decisiion
    Decision-making
    Desire
    Distraction
    Dreams
    Driverless Cars
    Driverless Trucks
    Emotion
    Empathy
    Escape
    Ethical
    Expectations
    Family
    Fatherhood
    Fathers
    Fear
    Fiction
    Flashfiction
    Flash Fiction
    Friendship
    Future
    Gerontology
    Goals
    Golf
    Grieving
    Habits
    Harmony
    Healing
    Healthcare
    Humor
    Hunting
    Imagination
    Innocence
    Innovation
    Instinct
    Integrity
    Intentions
    Intuition
    Jobs
    Journey
    Land
    Leadership
    Legacy
    Lies
    Listening
    Loneliness
    Loss
    Love
    Management
    Marketing
    Meaning
    Mentoring
    Mistakes
    Money
    Moral
    Music
    Mystery
    Nostalgia
    Opportunity
    Ownership
    Parents
    Passions
    Patience
    Perception
    Perfection
    Perseverance
    Personaldevelopment
    Personality
    Perspective
    Photography
    Positivity
    Presence
    Reason
    Redemption
    Relationships
    Repair
    Reputation
    Resilience
    Respect
    Romance
    Secrets
    Selfawareness
    Self-care
    Selfconfidence
    Selfdevelopment
    Self Development
    Self-knowledge
    Self-worth
    Shame
    Song Lyrics
    Sons
    Stillbirths
    Success
    Technology
    Transformational Learning
    Transition
    Trust
    Truth
    Unknown
    Values
    Vision
    Well Being
    Writing

    RSS Feed

Home | Coaching | Music | Photography | About | Blog | Contact
© Wilberg, LLC. All rights reserved. Login.
  • Home
  • Coaching
  • Music
  • Photography
  • About
  • Blog
  • Contact