This is a story from the non-human sentient world. On a scale of events that can change the world, what happened this morning on my walk was not even laughably irrelevant. It might as well not have happened. Billions of such events unfold every minute on our planet without making the slightest alteration to anything other than those involved.
What happened this morning involved only a duck and me. It is a routine sight to see ducks and geese crossing roads at their own leisure, forcing cars to stop. Being birds they can fly across but for whatever reasons—most likely to preserve energy for their long flights—they choose to waddle at infuriatingly slow speeds. As fellow lifeforms which share this gorgeous planet with us it is as much their right.
I saw some 15 ducks, including babies, cross the road without any particular hurry since there were no cars. However, one duck got left behind. As it prepared to cross, a black Toyota Corolla appeared. The driver saw the solitary duck waiting at the edge of the sidewalk. He came to a dead stop allowing the bird to cross. The duck was confused. It came down a couple of steps and then turned right back. The Corolla driver waited a little longer, but the duck would not venture again. So, he drove away.
I was watching the duck watch me, perhaps sizing up if I posed any danger. I was about 10 feet away from it. Not to add to its anxious uncertainty I just stood there, waiting for it to make up its mind. And then suddenly, it took off and flew across to join the fellow ducks.
“What a dick!” I said out loud. “You could have flown earlier.” (This bit is true.)
I am reasonably sure the duck looked back at me and said, “You mean what a duck!” (This bit is just a joke and hence not true.)
Sometimes I get the sense that these birds choose to walk while crossing streets only to annoy humans. With next to no knowledge of ornithology I am guessing here. I think when birds, especially long-distance fliers such as geese, are on the ground they do everything to preserve and enhance their energy.
It is not as if a duck likes to be a dick by holding up traffic by waddling across roads. It is just that their routine often clashes with human routine. We ought to coexist peacefully. Of course, occasionally birds should also fly across a street rather than just saunter across.