Thursday, October 4, 2012

The Pukeko and Mr Key---who's the more clever?

On the way back from the Bay (for the second time today) after our walk, Perdy and I were both surprised to see a cheeky Pukeko wandering across a busy road. ( The Pukeko is a NZ Native bird---‘Swamp Hen’---this bird has made itself quite at home in the cities and is now something of a Kiwi icon.)
The bird has often been called stupid by people who do not understand the meaning of that word, especially when applied to our feathered friends. I choose to believe that Pukekos are an adaptable, unnervingly ‘survivalistic’ bird and if that doesn’t equate to ‘cleverness’ then what does?
This individual was most definitely coldly calculating in its perception of ‘road rules.’ It could see me coming, but it just looked me in the eye and carried on. It possessed a ‘self-assurance’ that belied my understanding of life and death. Surely if a large object is approaching, one would think that any life form would take appropriate action. Oh no, this Pukeko just carried on, come Hell or high water.
This all reminded me of John Key’s response to the Kim Dotcom affair. Hey---didn’t he see the ramifications way back about the involvement of the security services? Could he not see that the saga would blow up and leave him with egg on his face or did he just assume that it would all go away, because ---the security services are above the law? That My Key is in charge of this service must have equated to both him and the service being untouchable in his books.
Well, it didn’t turn out that way Mr Key. The Pukeko arrived safely to the other side off the road. Yes, I stopped and the traffic behind me seemed to understand that running over the Pukeko was not on. The Pukeko was far more connected to the people than you have been lately, Mr Key!