Elephants
AS A METAPHOR, the elephant often figures in social commentary. In the case of the “elephant in the room,” it is meant to be intentionally avoided. In social gatherings, such embarrassing elephants are left unmentioned, though they are in everybody’s mind.
The “white elephant” is used to refer to expensive failures or hard-to-maintain losses. The etymology of the phrase derives from a practice of Siamese kings. A critic or potential rival in the royal court is gifted with an albino elephant to take care of. The cost of feeding and nurturing such a rare specimen is expected to lead to the financial ruin of the recipient. So, over-budget and behind-schedule projects are now routinely referred to as white elephants, causing embarrassment and even ruin to the proponents.
The elephant has also been used to illustrate the problem of perception. The tale of the three blind men who touch different parts of the beast come up with a limited perception of what they are confronted with. Dealing with just a part of the big picture can lead to wrong conclusions. Problems need to be defined as one whole elephant.
Gradualism or the attempt to solve big problems with many small steps use the recent paradigm of the elephant too. When eating an elephant, one is told, it is best to do this one bite at a time. These small servings of a big meal do not even consider the edibility of this mammal. And does the elephant stay still for these dim sum bites?
As for the gait of the pachyderm, a slow-walking overweight young person can be taunted and body-shamed to walk faster and not to breathe so heavily. She is called an elephant and even asked derisively how much she weighs. She can reply — with or without tusks?
The “elephant walk” is slow and measured. It was the name of a brief dance craze in the ’60s, with its own get-up-and-boogie hit music. The slow gait and occasional lifting of one foot (and then the other) was a simple dance routine that would not possibly make it to any terpsichorean competition. The elephant walk was ideal for conga line-dancing, especially for slow movers who shout better than they move. (The elderly reader can even catch herself humming the “elephant walk,” maybe swaying in her seat. Younger readers can google it.)
“Riding the tiger” is a metaphor for getting into a sticky mess and unable to get off unscratched. What about riding the elephant?
For one who had tried to get atop an elephant as part of some tour event in Thailand, the effort was daunting. Just getting to the seat (sometimes for two) atop the big lump one must get up on a platform for this purpose. The trained elephant needed to cooperate. It knelt in front of the platform to allow the tourist/rider to hoist himself into the basket seat. And the ride along narrow foothills could be good for selfies, if one was not fearful of dropping the phone into the bushes. Getting off that beast rewound the whole process.
Thus, riding and getting off either a tiger or an elephant cannot apply as metaphor for the same situation. The former means of transport requires survival skills at the back of a predator. The latter ride is assisted and requires the trained cooperation of the carrier.
Going back to our first instance of elephantiasis where a subject to be avoided is an “elephant in the room,” we now have a digital version.
An online grouping is pre-selected by a self-appointed administrator based on common interests like art auctions, online gambling, or, more commonly, the goings-on of alumni of a particular school. Most exchanges feature greetings prompted by a “birthday beadle” listing daily celebrants who are greeted, and then required to thank each of the greeters.
Contentious exchanges can spoil this online camaraderie.
Some controversies like the Gaza attack and counterattack, the West Philippine Sea hosing of re-suppliers of grounded ships, and the targeting of pet peeves can arouse fiery exchanges. (You have the IQ of a cactus.) New ground rules are promulgated to list subjects to avoid, and characters opting out of the group.
In promoting social harmony, life can become a zoo… with so many elephants in the room.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
