I used to live down in South Carolina. For half the year, each year. We lived right in downtown Charleston, which is one of the best cities on the planet. Especially if you like to eat.
There’s a place not far from there called Kiawah Island. On the coast. It is a “nicer” area with a golf theme, and many people of considerable means live in that place. I was saddened to hear that a woman was killed there yesterday, by an alligator.
I read the full article about the incident. The police shot and killed the alligator, and the whole incident is being investigated further. But. At the end of the article, there was a line that struck me funny.
“Authorities did not say if they knew what the woman or the alligator were doing before the attack.”
Well. Of course, they can’t be sure about the woman. She could have been doing naked handsprings in the middle of the street singing, “Lola” at the top of her lungs, for all they know.
But the alligator? We can be pretty certain he was either laying in shallow water, or on the ground. I seriously doubt he was in the middle of having his nails done when she caught him off guard.
I would say that for the most part, animals are predictable. There may be a rare occasion when one acts erratically, due to illness, or some other cause. But for the most part, their behaviors can be forecasted with amazing accuracy.
In the case of this killing, I would say the woman was doing something completely “normal” in her day — like taking a walk — and probably startled the alligator in some way shape, or form. She might have stepped on him, or simply gotten too near him. Of course, I am guessing, but it is a pretty safe bet. Regardless, both of them were probably doing normal things when their lives intersected. And the alligator acted instinctively. It doesn’t happen often. There are only about ten alligator attacks per year in the United States.
That’s the thing about us humans. Our lives are constantly intersecting with other’s lives. Most of the time it’s by our choice. Sometimes it is happenstance. Either way, we interact with others, from our first day here on earth to our last. One way or another.
Sometimes, these are good, cohesive, positive, productive experiences. Other times, they are the exact opposite.
Our connections have changed too, which further complicates things. Twenty-five years ago, digital communications were all but non-existent for the majority of the population. These days, the reverse is true. We spend far more time standing in our digital intersections than we do in real-life connections. Now, when so many of us are observing “stay at home” directives, things have shifted tremendously in various directions.
After much observation, I can only say this. You are much more likely to be attacked by a human than you are an alligator. Even if you live near a brackish pond in South Carolina. And this has become a very sad and disappointing “normal” for America.
I don’t know what the answer is, as “taking the high road” doesn’t seem to be lessening the frequency of these mental, verbal, or physical attacks which occur from our fellow humans. But somewhere in me, I have to believe, that the best path in life, is that of peace.
I hope it is true.
I hope it is the answer.
And soon.
==========
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.
— Desmond Tutu
==========
The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only object of good government.
— Thomas Jefferson
==========
Peace in every step.
— Polly Kronenberger
(Someone probably has said it before me, but I don’t know who that might be.)
==========
