 |
EMIL
FRANZI |
Desert museum’s flag
flap owes its origins to bully behaviorOctober 17, 2007 |
The Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum’s Board of Directors almost blew it.
They at first succumbed to a variety of pressures and threats and allowed themselves to be bullied into removing the Mexican flag, flown there since 1954 and originally a gift from the then governor of Sonora. In a further fit of pathological egalitarianism they also removed the American flag. In worrying about offending the handful of the half-million visitors the museum draws per year who questioned the Mexican flag, they offended just about everybody else. Fortunately, they discovered what real pressure is after announcing their decision, and within 72 hours, it was rescinded. Their original decision was a response to a handful of questions about the presence of the Mexican flag, many not even complaints. Actual threats amounted to one. Critics of the original decision were in two camps. The first opposed the removal as a surrender to bullies and yahoos and wanted both flags back. The second couldn’t understand why the American flag had to also be removed. Some of the latter think bringing down the Mexican flag was OK. It wasn’t. And while I agree that many who wanted the Mexican flag removed are either conscious or unconscious bigots, I also suspect the removal of the American flag was a passive-aggressive response to them. Only there’s another reason for these actions needing discussion everybody is missing. There were very few real complaints. Most of those getting them were volunteers with a low tolerance level for abuse. Many have focused, rightfully, on surrendering to bullies. But the other problem is even more insidious. It’s the complaint-activated mentality that is slowly crawling all over our public life. How many times have you seen or heard government and private bureaucracies state they will only do something “if there are complaints.” Your dog barking? Your mailbox too big or the wrong color? How about that RV in the driveway? Forget about the merits or demerits of the complaint or the complainer. All qualitative judgment has been removed making all complaints pathologically equal. Our culture is forgetting how to tell the chronic whiners and busybodies to just “shove it.” Instead, we have gradually empowered them. You can get a reaction, and often a result, from complaining or being offended about anything. This problem is not just in homeowner’s associations. Many college campuses allow speech codes to trump free inquiry. Offending someone — anyone — is used to stifle commentary. This blind “honor the complainer” mentality probably had some bearing on the original decision made at the Desert Museum. Fortunately, the bullies were crushed when the public outcry over that decision caused the directors of the museum to reconsider. They should be complimented for hearing the public. And we who jumped on them for their original move should consider spending more time at this wonderful treasure and maybe even dropping them a check once in a while to keep up the great work. One further request — there will soon be an exhibit displaying why it’s called the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum containing all of the multiple flags that involves. Perhaps the number of questions staff will receive would decline if two more flags were added out front for each of the two states in the title. • • • Correction to an earlier column: Thanks to Cindy Clapp for challenging my erroneous assignment of the characteristics of great horned owls to barn owls. Both are predators and both are common here, but barn owls are smaller and have less lift capacity. Great horned owls grow to more than two feet high, have wingspans greater than five feet, and can often lift more than 15 pounds. The Desert Museum’s walk-in aviary doesn’t contain predatory birds — they’re separately housed next door. And in attempting to be cute in countering the widely held belief that javelina are related to swine, I apologize to javelinas for likening them to rodents. Turns out they’re actually closer to — hippos!
|
BUT WATCH WHAT YOU SAY! |
|
|
|||
