A Lesson For Us All

Brie sitting on her table contemplating what went wrong...

Brie is a good goat.  She is sweet and calm.  She isn’t pushy and respects the other animals in her herd, namely Kit, Kaboodle, and Eliza.  Brie wasn’t always like this.  When she was younger, she was the herd leader.  She bossed everyone around as if she were queen of Piscataway Acres.  She was a very proud goat.  She was stronger and more clever than any of the others in the herd.  When it was time to feed the group, she always ate first.  Sometimes, just for fun she would rear up and hit a poor unsuspecting sheep right in the side, causing the sheep to forcefully expel whatever was in their mouths at the time.  Brie would plow right into the sheep and even her best friend Eliza.  Brie continued this rude behavior for months.

But unfortunately for Brie, the sheep grew up and it turns out, they are now larger and stronger than Brie.  Brie tried for several weeks to dominate the more powerful sheep, but to no avail.  It soon became clear that Brie had lost her royal spot as herd leader.  Oddly enough, Kit, the weakest at birth and the one that was picked on by all, is now in charge.  Now Brie spends her time thinking about days past.  She is frequently sitting alone on the card table.  I would like to think that Brie has learned something from this, but perhaps not.

As with humans, the strongest animal becomes herd leader.  But perhaps a more benevolent herd leader will outlast the bullies, for what goes around comes around.