THE COMPANY THAT WE KEEP
“Those
who lie down with dogs
will
rise up with fleas.”
An
old saying
Every
week, I prominently display a new quote or a saying in my classroom. I believe,
that many of my young students read them, and, hopefully, try to take home the
message these quotes and sayings try to convey. I am, also, quite conscious of
the reality, that there are some, who just choose to overlook these quotes and
sayings, leave alone trying to take home their message…
Today’s old saying
was:
“Those
who lie down with dogs
will
rise up with fleas.”
One
of my students, apparently a dog-lover, felt a bit offended. “Sir, what does
this saying mean? Is it not very derogatory? My entire family loves to lie down
next to our dog… and, we all love it. We do not have any problem with that.”
Another student
of mine, the friend of this boy, tried to intervene. “Arey yaar, just as
some dogs have fleas and some dogs don’t, some of our friends have fleas and
some don’t. We choose our company, right?”
“The company
that we keep defines us.” This is an old saying, too. Therefore, let’s stay out
of the ‘dog debate’… Let’s bring the ‘fleas’ on humans…and, rewrite the old saying:
“Those
who lie down with friends-with-fleas,
will
rise up with fleas.”
As the friend’s
friend in my classroom knew, that he and his dog-lover friend had chosen to befriend
each other carefully – for having no fleas on their bodies, everyone, here on earth, has
to be careful, too, when we choose our friends. Just as some dogs do have fleas
on their bodies because they are ‘left to stray’, some of us – humans – do have
fleas on our bodies, because we stray...
So sorry. This
poster and this post are not about ‘dogs’…
They are about
the humans with fleas… Yes, whether or not the company that we keep defines us - refines or impairs.
Disclaimer:
‘No animals were harmed while writing this Post.”
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic's: pixabay
Video: T-Series
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