One Floyd At A Time

[ZeldaCA]

Hi folks!

I am a newspaper columnist, in addition to being a new pigeon parent, so I wrote this week's column about Floyd. Here it is, and hope you enjoy it!

So She Thought: A lesson from Floyd


Generalizations are often dangerous propositions, a fact I was reminded of recently by my new friend, Floyd. Floyd came into my life the week before Thanksgiving when I spotted him huddled next to the curb of the drive-thru lane of our neighborhood dry cleaners. He was gray and unassuming, about the size of your fist, freezing cold and only about half covered with feathers when I first noticed him.

"Hey, how long has that baby bird been sitting there?" I asked the kid at the drive-up window.

"Hmmm ... at least two days, I think," the kid said, with an air of utter nonchalance about him.

"Seen any parents around, feeding him or anything?"

"I don't know," he said, seeming perplexed as to why I'd even be asking the question. "I don't think so."


And at that moment I had to decide what to do next. While I do rescue birds on a regular basis, this bird was a pigeon -- and you know what they say about pigeons. Flying Rats. Or Rats With Wings if you'd rather. Dirty, disease-carrying, defecating birds who serve no purpose but to overpopulate themselves in urban environments and cause blight wherever they go.

Those are the generalizations, anyway, and I was thinking about all of them and already feeling regret as I hopped out of the car, picked up the baby bird and drove home with him.

It's funny how our generalizations can affect us. While the kid at the dry cleaners always ends our transactions with a smile and a "you have a blessed day, now," somehow I don't think the thought of whether or not the baby pigeon outside the drive-thru window was having a blessed day had even made it onto his radar screen. Maybe our compassion ends where our generalizations begin? After all, why worry about a flying poop-and-disease factory?

Generalizing is something I think we all do, as a way of making sense out of the vast number of other beings we encounter on any given day. Sometimes it's just easier to group them into categories.

The problem is, of course, that as soon as you assign a group label to someone, you reduce that individual to the image you have of that particular group. And in doing that, you de-humanize them.

Of course you can't really de-humanize Floyd, since he wasn't human to start with, but you get the point. Generalizations only work until you get up close and personal with who or whatever it is you're generalizing, and then the image generally falls apart.

No matter what anyone's notions are regarding pigeons or Rock Doves (as they were called back when they had a nobler public image), Floyd has taught me that he is his own bird, and that my preconceived notions about pigeons were laughably far from the truth.

Floyd is fastidiously clean, with a bright, inquisitive mind, and an endless capacity for love. Or whatever Floyd's equivalent of love is I guess. But whatever it is, he's got it for us in spades, whether it's sitting on our heads watching TV with us or demanding to take a shower whenever we do. Floyd is a family guy.

And I think about Floyd now whenever I hear generalizations about groups I'm not familiar with (and therefore more tempted to believe what I hear about them). Floyd been a reminder and an ambassador of mind-opening tolerance for me as I've realized that just as he's different from the stereotypes about pigeons, so are people often different from the stereotypes of the groups they are assigned to.

It reminds me of a conversation I had once with a Dad whose son attended some of the same school activities mine did. One day, the boy stopped coming to meetings, and a few months later I saw his Dad while out walking and stopped to ask why. His answer surprised me.

"You know, that whole group was just a little too .... white for me, you know?"

He said this in a way that indicated he was almost expecting me to nod my head in assent on the "whiteness" of it all, and what a pain in the posterior that was.

Instead, months later, I still wonder what he meant. Because to me, white can be about six thousand different things. Just like something Mexican, Polish, Mormon, Gay, Straight, Homeless, or Rich can also be any number of things. Name your generalization. It'll never apply to folks in that group once you start dealing with them one-on-one and seeing them for who they really are, I guarantee it.

And so what do we all do with our convenient, yet incorrect generalizations about others? I wish I had an answer to that, since our country seems ever more polarized between the "us" and the "thems."

Maybe our best hope against the generalizations which serve to separate others from us is to take them on as we find them ... in other words, to break down our own preconceived notions, one "Floyd" at a time.

[Skyeking]

Hi Zelda!

Thank you for sharing your lovely story with us, and for rescuing Floyd. I appreciate your insight and I love that name!

I think if more people would stop being self-centered and be more open minded the world would be a happier place.

Oh...and Congratulations on becoming a pigeon parent. I too, am a pigeon parent to many.

Please feel free to browse around and if you have any questions please feel free to ask.

[Lovebirds]

What a wonderful story and how lucky can a bird be??? We would all love to see a picture of Floyd and I'm sure there's LOTS of stories to tell.

[Lovebirds]

You know, when I was reading this post, I thought "this sounds familiar".......LOL
Well, that's probably because you had posted a version of this story a few days ago. I KNEW that I had heard that story somewhere.....
I also just realized that you had posted pictures also and Floyd is one handsome birdie, that's for sure.
I'll add a link here to the previous post, in case someone missed it or has forgotten or can't find it.

http://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=24405

[mr squeaks]

Gee, Zelda...isn't it AMAZING how ONE pigeon can grab your heart strings so easily and in such a short time??

That is A WONDERFUL article about Floyd (also love the name!)! And you certainly bring up some great points for many to ponder!!

Many of us on the site have written stories about our pijies, how they came to be with us and their subsequent adventures!

Slowly, we help spread the word and educate to change people's attitude about this noble and fun bird.

However, NOTHING changes a person's mind faster than finding their OWN pigeon. They will never be the same again!

We look forward to Floyds further doings. BTW, IF he is "bonded" to your husband, you may, indeed, have a "Flora!"

Once you find out and want to find a mate...well, we'll be here to help!

Hugs and Scritches to ALL

Shi & Squeaks

[Charis]

Zelda I read your words, your lovely story about Floyd with tears streaming down my face. It brought back memories of a rescue I made years ago and one that changed my life by challenging my belief system. My rescue was a paralyzed baby Opossum name Stinky.

[TAWhatley]

Great article! Thank you for sharing it with us!

Terry

[Feather]

Zelda,

That was a fantastic write up. We need an article such as "One Floyd At A Time" in our local paper. The first Thanksgiving that I was married to my husband he invited alot of homeless people over for dinner.

I was so upset that I could not even enjoy the preparation of the meal. My husband started setting up tables out in the back just a singing and not paying to much attention to my fits. Then he went to the store and bought plastic plates and knives, forks, and glasses. Pretty soon my mom was out there putting table clothes on the tables, and helping him set up.

He tried to sneak in the house to get some bread baskets when I caught him, I said "Oh God why do you do these things." With his Ricky Ricardo accent my husband told me not to cry out for God on this one. "Some days these people don't get anything to eat, and God sent them to our house, or God told him to invite them."

I put my china away, and moved my dinner outside. My mom and I both told my husband that it was the best Thanksgiving that we ever had. And it was! We did the same thing for a few years after that. "One Floyd at a time"

[ZeldaCA]

Thank you all for sharing your own "Floyd" stories, as well as reading mine. Isn't it wonderful the way certain people and creatures can turn our hearts around and make us better people? The world would be a better place if everyone had their own Floyd experience, whether it was with a tiny opossum, a pigeon, or a homeless person.

Hugs to you all!
Zelda

[maryjane]

What an outstanding article, very well-written and enjoyable. Thanks for spreading the good word about pigeons. Give Floyd a pat for me.

[ryannon]

Wonderful story and fine writing. And an interesting concept as well: as a columnist - and if your story creates enough positive feedback - you could solicit stories from other readers around the "One Floyd At a Time" theme...I'd wager that there are some beautiful ones - such as Feather's - that would be worthy of being published. And even if they don't make it into print in a magazine or paper, it would be interesting to see some of them here....

So much bad news - it sells, of course - and such a need and a hunger for stories like yours, which tend to put things back into a human perspective - while reminding us that one of the most important things we can do with our time on this planet is show love and compassion to those in need.

Afterthought: I'm a member of several other forums - generally composed of pretty tough, unsentimental members. I like your story so much - and the concept of inviting other people to share their "One Floyd" experiences that I might be tempted - with your permission - to post your story with the request that forum members respond in kind. Please consider the idea and let me know; we can discuss this by an exchange of PMs if you like....

[Maggie-NC]

Zelda, many thanks for a beautiful story. Many, if not most, people have preconceived opinions about pigeons - mostly negative. However, I have noticed that when they find a pigeon and take care of it their opinions change to positive ones.

We have done rehabbing for about 14 years, both songbirds and pigeons. It became really hard on us to continue caring for both types and wound up taking care of only pigeons because, to me, they are the sweetest birds of all.

[ZeldaCA]

Ryannon, you have my permission to re-post it for your group. Under contract with my newspaper, I own my own story rights and can give permission to reprint to whomever I want to.

If you could let me know where it's posted, though, I'd love to check in on it and see what other stories it generates from your group.

Thanks!

Zelda

[ryannon]

PM sent, and thank you!

[sheridangirl]

Wow, what a great write up. That was me when my husband rescued a pair of "flying rats". Now my whole opinion has changed. They are wonderful animals!
And, you are right, it is easy to generalize about others as a group but once you meet the individual, everything is different.
Thanks!