Have you ever come upon a skunk unexpectedly? This happened to a brother-in-law just a few weeks ago. He walked into his shop with his dog and found a skunk the hard way. The big bay door had been left open as usual, while he was outside working. Of course, as soon as they walked in the dog knew something new was happening, and she went to investigate. When my b-i-l turned around to see what was going on, the skunk sprayed them both.
You can't really blame the skunk. Of course it was where it didn't belong, but how was it to know that? A wide open door, dishes of cat and dog food, a bowl of water - I'm sure it thought that was as good as an engraved invitation. The skunk bears no blame in this scenario, does it? Isn't it just defending itself? But you know what? I have seen it happen that the skunk just walks away, as long as it doesn't have a dog provoking it.
In this instance that skunk is not going to get any more invitations to spray my brother-in-law. He's more likely to keep the door to his shop closed. He's taking more care with the pet food. He's paying closer attention to his smart little spaniel. And I didn't ask about the skunk, but I'm hoping for its sake it decided to move on...
Life is full of skunks. When I meet a (figurative) skunk, I often make the mistake of trying to negotiate. I chat with the skunk; I try to find common ground. Sometimes it works, and the skunk turns out not to be Pepe Le Pew but rather the unfortunate paint-striped kitty. (Le sigh.) Sometimes I get lucky and the pole cat is just a cat, but not often. What happens most times is I end up sprayed. And unfortunately, the stink sticks for awhile.
So am I deciding to take more care around skunks. And just in case, I'm stocking up on figurative tomato juice.
And don't even get me started about snakes in the grass...
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