Be more like a Flamingo

 I know...a flamingo?  Not my first bird of choice to look to as a role model but hear me out.  

I was given the October-November 2020 issue of National Wildlife so I was looking through it and found a short piece on "Birds of a feather...".  The first sentence caught my eye and it really made sense. "For the first time, scientists have documented that flamingos consistently spend time with a handful of their close 'friends" while avoiding birds they don't get along with."  

Doesn't that sound like something we should do too?  I'm sure that most of us don't go out of our way to hang out with people we don't get along with.  In our Covid world that we fid ourselves living in, it makes more sense than ever.  "When unfriendly birds get too close to each other, on the other hand, they joust with their necks and beaks to determine dominance, with the winner most likely to be the individual with the longest neck...flamingos that regularly sat or stood less than one neck away from one another were classified as friends."  

Let's be more like flamingoes and hang out with our friends.  Stay a safe six feet away from our friends (a much longer distance unless you are Pinocchio) but still within talking range.  

Be like a flamingo and keep your friends within a safe but sociable distance and try to talk about pleasant things instead of all the negativity that is in the world today.  Need an ice breaker to start a conversation?  Use this post.  Who knows, after a couple of drinks the new drinking game could be "who can stretch their neck the farthest."  If you do use that for a drinking game, don't forget to add another element.  Perhaps standing on one leg while doing it or when taking your next drink.  Don't forget to have cameras ready when others try this.

Enjoy.