No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

I bought my condominium for one main reason, a 1,000 square feet patio at the edge of the downtown business core. It is in a semi-mature neighborhood, surrounded with many trees and flowerbeds, attracting squirrels, cats, birds, and rabbits. It is so much fun to watch those critters climb up and down the fence and scurry around my little sanctuary in the city.

One day in late autumn, I noticed a skinny little sparrow visiting my humble dwellings. Was this little creature really going to make it through winter being that scrawny? I wondered. Without hesitation, I was off to the local bird store arming myself with a feeder, seeds, and a water wiggler.

It did not take long for the birds to move into my patio in flocks. The new birdbath became the star attraction. Every day around dinnertime, the birds moved in for their evening bath. What a show they put on. Water was splashing all around and the little guys were clearly having a ball.

But all did not turn out well. The magpies moved in a short while later. And what a loud and obnoxious species they were. Once their young hatched, I was rudely woken up at 5 a.m. every morning through their boisterous squawking. I had become accustomed to sleeping with open windows so my condo could cool down at night, and this really cramped my style.

I tried various ways to chase them away. Waving my arms in the air, throwing ice cubes at them and even using the garden hose. Whatever new scheme I could think of, the birds soon caught on and got used to it. Darn, those buggers were quick learners. My frustration grew, and with it my awareness that I was in the midst of a scuffle with wildlife.

I realized the futility of my exercise. After all, the magpies were not doing anything we humans were not doing in the first place. Moving into a neighborhood uninvited, taking it over, making a racket, and ignoring our impact on life that was there before. I resigned in defeat and retired the feeder and the bath.

This brought to mind a lesson I learned a long time ago. Nobody wins unless everybody wins. Isn’t that the true reason relationships fail? One person tries to get more than they are willing to give or simply ignores the needs of another. After a while, the other gets tired of the imbalance and withdraws or leaves altogether. To me, this is fundamental to creating a successful relationship. And doesn’t everything boil down to relationships at the end? Whether it is with ourselves, our body, or family; the community, work, politics or countries. Why do people have such difficulty grasping this? It seems so simple.

A sudden noise yanks me back from my daydream. I am cleaning out my junk drawer and am holding in my hand the long forgotten water wiggler. My neighborhood is quiet again. The magpies have moved on. Should I try again? Maybe I’ll have more luck this time? Perhaps I’ll just add batteries to my shopping list for now.