Feeding the crows

Yesterday we were walking in the small town of Blaine, Washington with our son and his children. We have been careful to include the children in wearing masks and have spoken to them about why we wear masks. They understand that the masks help to prevent others from getting sick. Blaine isn’t a very busy place, but it attracts tourists and has several places where you can purchase food to eat outdoors. In addition, there was a small arts and crafts show taking place. It was a fun adventure for a warm spring day.

We walked past a place where there was a tray of shelled peanuts sitting next to a business and the children commented on the peanuts. The next time we passed the same place, they noted that the peanuts had been thrown underneath a parked pickup truck. When the children asked why the peanuts were spilled under the truck, we said that we didn’t know. Then, from inside a shop door, a voice said, “To feed the crows. The seagulls won’t go under the truck to get the peanuts, but the crows will.” I was wondering why someone would want to feed crows while not feeding seagulls, but within a few seconds, the man who had called from the store was out on the street where he told the children to take off their face masks. He said that they didn’t need to wear face masks, that there was no reason to wear a face mask. He asked the children to think for themselves and not do something because someone else told them to do it. I picked up the pace of my walking while holding the hand of one of the children and we moved away from the man. He continued to yell after us about oppression and how the wearing of masks was submitting to a bad government.

The incident sparked conversation with our oldest grandson. First he told me the reasons why we wear face masks. He had good information and was accurate in what he said. He asked my why the man said what he did. I said that I didn’t know but that sometimes people will say things to you just because you are polite and listen. Even people who say things with which you disagree deserve politeness. I also told him that despite what the man said, we were helping him, too, by wearing our face masks. We don’t want anyone to get sick unnecessarily and wearing face masks won’t prevent all sickness, but it might help a little bit.

I was proud of my grandchildren. They continued to wear their masks and to be polite and respectful of other people. They stopped to look at items in the craft fair without touching. They allowed space between themselves and others.

Afterward, I returned to my wonder about why someone would feed crows but not seagulls. Crows are intelligent birds. They have a capacity to remember when someone is kind and they will return to a place where food is offered. Crows are prominent characters in several indigenous stories of the Pacific Northwest. Some people attribute spiritual characteristics fo birds. At various points in our lives, we have enjoyed feeding and watching birds. Being new to this area, I enjoy watching the seagulls. They seem to be scavengers and I’ve seen them make a mess with garbage put out for pickup, but I don’t know if they are any better or worse than crows.

I also wondered about the man who somehow thought it was important to give children advice that was contrary to the instruction they had received from their parents. It must have been obvious that the children were with their father and grandparents. We were all wearing masks, so it was also obvious how we felt. Somehow, however, this person appointed himself to try to teach a message that was contrary to our family’s values. We did not ask him for his opinion. We did not ask him to put on a mask. We did not attempt to change his point of view or behavior. He, however, was clearly trying to change ours. No harm was done in the exchange. There was no threat and soon we were a block away.

We often encounter people who offer unsolicited information and conversation as we walk. Earlier in the week, we met a man walking on a pathway. I greeted him as we passed and he said, “Did I ever tell you my favorite Bible verse?” He had not. We had never met or spoken to each other before. He proceeded to tell me it was John 3:16. I recited the verse: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal live.” “So you know it,” he said. “Do you apply it to your life?” “Indeed,” I responded as I continued to walk away from him. I don’t know anything more about the man. I think that he might have been being a street evangelist in part because his memory wasn’t working very well. He also seemed to be a bit lonely and in need of conversation. I might have pursued the conversation further, but we were in the midst of our own conversation and were walking the opposite direction from the man. We tried to be polite, but kept walking.

I am interested in other people and I have a fair amount of experience talking with strangers. I’ve had my first meeting with another person come at some of the worst moments of their lives. I’ve made death notifications to family members. I’ve met strangers at the scene of accidents or tragedies. But I have never felt called to try to change a person’s beliefs by offering unsolicited advice or talking at them when they didn’t want to talk. I don’t feel the need to convert others or to change their beliefs.

Apparently, however, there are those who don’t feel the way I do. I don’t give them advice, but if I did, I might suggest that they might be happier if they took time to listen to others and learn what they believed before they tried to convert them from what they assume them to be.

For now, I don’t intend to start feeding crows by tossing peanuts under my pickup.

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