If Politicians Had Anne of Green Gables’ Compulsion They’d Be Undertakers

An exquisite compulsion

… to say that one dread thing

Like Anne of Green Gables, I have the exquisite compulsion to say the one thing nobody wants to hear at precisely the moment they least want to hear it.

A more common gift is to say what people want to hear. We have just invited a number of politicians with this gift to feed at the public trough. Soon we will hear their slurps and grunts.

My reward for this untimely gift is fodder for another poem or story-and the great pleasure of occasionally finding someone who delights in this compulsion in others. That is perhaps a rarer gift than my own.

Anne had the lovely knack of summing up what nobody wanted summed up, and so she was incessantly reminded that she was a nobody. She came at last to understand that those who reminded her were the true nobodies of the world.

In my youth children like Anne were sometimes disparaged as smart alecks. You’d have to study lips and eyes to see the difference between a smart aleck and Anne: no pleasure in the discomfort of others played around her lips or eyes.

I’ve stepped over into the realms of smart-assininity in my time, but in general my impulse to say the unwanted and unwonted thing is related to a conviction formed early in life that the world consists of circles into which I’m not allowed and therefore I might as well stand at the moat and tell the guards just what I think.

There is nothing, of course, to stop them from shooting an arrow or two through me, and I have some scars, but the guards have usually refrained because of what might lurk in the woods. I have no idea what might lurk there. I certainly didn’t post any of my demons there. But I am more than content that the guards should fear the unknown. That, after all, is why something or someone is being guarded.

This compulsion of mine has more than once made an implacable enemy. It has the effect of hitting someone on the head with a sledgehammer. Once it’s spotted in you more than a few people avoid you strenuously, not because they’re certain you’re on the verge of saying something they don’t want to hear but because you’re the kind of person who might. You are as inconvenient as an outhouse. In any committee you attract wary glances and someone is likely to one-up you as a preemptive strike.

Anne’s triumph is that her innocence drew those who are not compelled to despoil it, a bigger feat than one might think.

I liked the moment I encountered her. The danger of saying a thing well is her gift to me. We have been coconspirators from an early age. But Anne was pretty, and I was something less than beguiling, however much some memorable people took a shine to me.

We don’t have many leaders with Anne’s gift. It’s not the gift of gab. That is common, very common. It’s the gift of acuity and prescience. Our society rewards these gifts even less than the Trojans rewarded Cassandra. We don’t like prescience, we like profit. We want to win the lottery, and that drat Cassandra wants to tell us the house is rigged.

Del’s book, Far From Algiers: http://upress.kent.edu/books/Marbrook_D.htm

New review of Far from Algiers: http://www.rattle.com/blog/2009/05/far-from-algiers-by-djelloul-marbrook/

Artists Hill, Literal Latte’s fiction first prize: http://www.literal-latte.com/author/djelloulmarbrook/

His blog: http://www.djelloulmarbrook.com

His mother’s art: http://www.juanitaguccione.com

His aunt’s art: http://www.irenericepereira.com

Hot this week

Did David Wineland and Serge Haroche Steal Idea For The Nobel Physics Prize?

Dr. Omerbashich says the Royal Swedish Academy is a Crime Scene and he has the proof that Nobel laureates stole his discovery.

New Approaches to Disaster Relief Challenges

Disaster relief has always been a challenge. NASA, Google,...

3 Legitimate Money Making Methods to Supplement Your Income

In a perfect world, when your landlord raises your...

2016 Predictions by World Renowned Medium and Psychic Lindy Baker

World renowned medium and psychic Lindy Baker is interviewed by The Hollywood Sentinel, discussing psychic power, the spirit world, life after death, areas of concern in 2016, and much more.

Digital Coupon Customers Spending More Than Double At Stores

A new study shows that customers who use digital coupons go shopping more for groceries and other household goods more often and spend more on their shopping trips.

Doğma Torpaq – ‘Motherland’, Azerbaijan’s History In Cinematic Epic

For movie goers: an Azerbaijani film production company premiered their new release: Doğma Torpaq, translates from the Azerbaijan language to "Motherland" (Native Land).

Why One Startup Believes Security Resilience Starts with Smarter Configurations

Organizations are expanding their digital infrastructures at an unexpected...

Australia’s Election – What Happens When Major Parties Abandon Fiscal Restraint

Australia’s major parties promise $105B in election spending. Minor parties may push a fragile Labor gov't leftward, harming economy further.

CDC Study Shows Alarming Autism Spike: Kennedy Calls for End to “Epidemic Denial”

RFK Jr. slams autism "epidemic denial" after CDC data shows 1 in 31 U.S. kids affected. He demands urgent real-time tracking and reform.

China’s Old Wounds Resurface Amid Global Instability

Against this backdrop of global instability, China finds itself revisiting unresolved chapters of history that continue to shape its foreign and domestic stance.

Pundi AI is Bridging AI with Blockchain to Democratize Data

In the last decade, the two technological paradigms have...

Buy Smart, Pivot Fast: Two High-Probability Strategies to Dominate Crypto

Investors willing to try their hands at crypto assets...

Judeo-Christian Ethos To Be Sung in Kraków, Poland

Judeo-Christian Ethos The outcome of the collaboration between religions is...

Related Articles

Popular Categories