I don’t want to be a Turkey

I don’t want to be a turkey

My very earliest recollection of belonging to group or a team of some sort was in kindergarten. As part of some type of game which I can’t recall, our teacher herded a group of about 40 of us into the middle of the room where we all sat down on this big mat. She then told us that we were going to be divided into two teams, the Turkeys and the Squirrels. She would call a name and then instruct the person to go to one side of the room or another depending. As she was going through the roster, my friend Willy, sitting right next to me, was telling me that the Squirrels were way better than the Turkeys. He said who wants to be a dumb old turkey, they can’t climb or fly or anything except make that stupid turkey noise.

As the teacher proceeded to sort us out, two loosely organized groups were starting to form on opposite sides of the room. As I sat there waiting for my turn I could hear Willy muttering to himself as he alternately turned his back to avoid eye contact with the teacher whenever she was about to select another Turkey. Just then Willy’s name was called and he was told to join the Turkey group. He didn’t move and instead began to mumble that he was not going to be no turkey. The teacher called him again and asked him to move to the Turkey group. “No”, said Willy. The teacher came over and tried to coax him by touching his arm. He pulled away and ran to the Squirrel group. The teacher followed and literally chased him around the Squirrels until she caught him and grabbed him firmly by the arm and almost dragged him to the other side of the room to be with his fellow Turkeys. I just sat there horrified. All the while Willy was screaming that “I’m not gonna be no Turkey”. Meanwhile I was thinking that Willy knew something else about the turkeys that I didn’t, like maybe they had cooties or something. Willy was getting really agitated and the other kids in both groups were starting to separate and wander away from their designated spots like 5 year olds tend to do when they are bored or distracted. It didn’t seem like two groups anymore but more like two amoebas trying to merge.

Willy was developing a louder and louder moan, his classmates were getting out of control, and the teacher was intermittingly yelling and chasing stray Squirrels and Turkeys that had begun to intermingle. I sat and watched secretly wishing it was nap time. When she finally called my name, I froze and squinched my eyes shut and wished really really hard to be named a squirrel. That’s about all I can remember about that day.

For Willy, the Turkey was just not how he saw himself. I think for children, the dynamics of selecting groups or teams tend to be random – sometimes it’s fair and sometimes not. As adults we have more control of the process and can choose which organization, team, or company we want to join. The key concept here is choice. And the more you can be in charge of that choice, the more likely you’ll avoid being a Turkey. And like my buddy Willy, I think that’s a good thing.

The other lesson here is that the Universe hears what you say and delivers and so perhaps if Willy had concentrated his energy on wanting to be a “Squirrel” instead of what he didn’t want, he could have avoided becoming the dreaded “Turkey” he became.