Nah Nah Nah Nah Nah

     Chicken.
     Scaredy Cat.
     Turkey.
     Kids crack me up.
     I'm getting ahead of myself ...

    Gone are the days when families raised food for their family's consumption, but years ago most families did. Most had some sort of garden and raised animals for meat. Even families who resided "in town" and were spatially challenged kept smaller animals such as fowl for meat and/or eggs. Chickens and turkeys were as familiar to most children, then, as cats and dogs are to children now.

     And for generations, taunts derived from this knowledge have echoed in America's school yards. Chicken. BOOOCK! BockBockBock. Superficially, a simple insult, yet when one pauses underlying complexities are apparent.

     The kid who's a chicken is a vastly different creature than the kid who's a scaredy cat and the kid who's a turkey.

     Chickens are stupid and afraid of anything unfamiliar. That makes them "flighty". It's an inherent quality and the one word is sufficient.

     Scaredy cat. Two words. Cats are smarter, more complex creatures than chickens, and  an adjective is required to accurately convey the taunter's intent. What kind of cat? A scaredy cat.

     Turkey - again, one word. A living, breathing, flesh and blood domestic turkey is possibly the dumbest animal on earth. It is apt to die at any given moment because it's too stupid to be afraid. It walks right into the danger with a skip in its step and a song in its heart. Turkey is the proper moniker to assign to the class fool oblivious of the consequences of his* actions. You know this kid's going to spend a lot of recesses with his head on his desk, but he's good with it because he's making nose prints on the desktop.  

     Kids don't need to think about any of this. They just know it. Even while taunting, they know there's more purpose in taunting the scaredy cat than the chicken because the chicken is long gone - it flew the coop. The scaredy cat is still hanging around assessing the situation before committing. And it isn't necessary to taunt the turkey cause he just went ahead and did it. He will either die or get in big trouble and as each has entertainment value to kids, the turkey has a certain bizarre social standing.  

     The most fascinating thing about all of this, though, is the staying power of these taunts. Generations later they are still used. Children who've never even driven by a farm use these with acumen. They get the subtleties. They wield the taunt with wit and precision.

     Or maybe it's come full circle. Maybe it's a chicken/egg situation. Are children calling little Johnny a turkey because they know turkeys are fools, or, do little Johnny's antics teach children that turkeys are fools? 

     Our world has evolved and the family farm has all but disappeared. Amazingly (thankfully) memories of days gone by linger on. We owe that to children, and I tip my hat.

     Enjoy your turkey without guilt or remorse. It had a happy life. Killing that bird was a kindness, really. Something would have gotten him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

* often gender specific