Me vs. Nature
Let me just start off by saying that I love nature. Really, I do. I love that Vanderbilt is a national arboretum, I respect the freedom of the squirrels at Vanderbilt to leap out of trashcans if they so desire, and I do not in any way enjoy harming small birds. NOT AT ALL.
So yesterday, as I was innocently walking from main campus to the Commons for my Justice class with my friend, I felt something on my leg at about hand level, beneath my book bag. Assuming it was a leaf or something similar that I had walked into mid fall-from-tree, I swiped at it with my hand. As I did this, I looked down, too late to stop the inevitable. For it was not a leaf–it was a bird. And I hit it. Upon impact, I yelped and ran for my life for about ten feet. Not my finest moment.
To make matters worse, my friend had no idea what had just happened, so she just continued to walk calmly as I panicked.
This freak event occurred right as everyone was going to class, so my little performance was witnessed by many (and the bird was seen by few), and while I’d like to think I recovered nicely, I’m nearly positive that this was not the case. However in the end, I learned something: always look before you swat. And public embarrassment isn’t nearly as debilitating as it sounds. In fact, it’s kind of funny. The point of this story is not me telling you, “If you come to Vanderbilt, you’ll be attacked by wildlife! Yay!” Far from it. This is a one-in-a-million kind of event. Every other day of my life, I simply admire the nature from a reasonable distance, which is as it should be. Vanderbilt is a beautiful place, and I consider myself incredibly lucky to be able to experience it.
(I’d also like to mention that the bird was not in any way affected by my abrupt disruption of its daily life.)