Out of Touch

Dylan, Andrew, Charlotte at the Allan Gardens

Gossiping about stakeholders at the end of a briefing this past week, I had occasion to use the phrase "dog in a manger." As soon as I said it, I regretted my choice.

"Does anyone know what I just said?" I asked the very young people across the table from me. "No," they said, not unkindly, or even pityingly, but quite definitely.

"You know, it's an Aesop's fable.." ... no reaction ... "about a dog" ... still nothing ... "in a manger? It means someone who spitefully withholds from others something that they themselves can't use?" 

No light of recognition shone in any eye, not even the Deputy Minister who had at the very same meeting told us he was 54 years old. 

Later that same day I checked with another not-all-that-young person in the division. Had she ever heard of Aesop's fables? 

"No," she said. 

"You've heard of sour grapes, though, yes?" I asked.

"Sure," she said.

"That's an Aesop's fable."

"Oh," she said, probably finding it hard to care.

So it would appear that one of the literary mainstays of useful instruction in my youth has passed from mainstream culture. 

But fables still abound.

At the meeting where the dog in the manger reference fell flat, I had just told the story of the good Mayor of a small Ontario town, who was lobbying the government aggressively to have a decision of a tribunal overturned.

The Mayor told a widely reported story of how one company had advocated for the good people of the Mayor's town, but another company had come along and argued against them. And the evil tribunal hearing the arguments had sided with the second company, thereby denying the good people of the Mayor's town a benefit they all wanted and sorely needed.

It's a moving story. When it came across my desk, I knew I needed to understand the details so I could advise the government on its options. I checked in with the tribunal. Turns out everything the Mayor believed to be true was not. The first company had not advocated for the town's people; the second company had not even been involved in the hearing so it was an impossibility that there could have been a decision by the tribunal against the good townspeople.

Here's another old saying: "Don't believe what you read in the papers."

Thanks for reading!

Have a great week!

Karen