Gary McIntyre had just started his workday in the Canadian woods last Monday. He
heard a noise, turned to look in that direction, and realized he was being
charged by an angry bear! Experienced forestry worker that he is, he knew there
was no time for a proper introduction. So he scurried up the nearest tree.
The bear didn't give up. She started climbing the tree behind him! "Her teeth
were right under my boots," said McIntyre in a television interview. He didn't
have the bear repellent he normally carries with him in the forests of New
Brunswick. And he wasn't carrying his two-way radio either. So McIntyre began
screaming at the bear in hopes of scaring her away. But she just kept climbing.
The bear got so close, in fact, that the man who has had encounters with bears
before had to risk jumping from one tree into another to avoid being mauled by
the powerful creature that was closing in on him!
"She tried to grab me for a while and after I stopped screaming, the bear calmed
down," he told the TV camera. "The more I screamed, the madder the bear got."
The reason for the bear's rage didn't become apparent until much later, when the
trapped man saw her cub crawling down from the top of a 50-foot tree not far
from where he had encountered its mother.
The cub swung to the ground, nudged its mother, and the two of them ambled off.
McIntyre waited a few minutes, came down from his place of refuge, and looked
one last time at the deep gouges the bear had inflicted on the tree she had
clawed in frustration. Grateful those marks were not on his body, the forestry
worker went home – after a harrowing eight-hour day.
McIntyre's comment about his screaming only making the bear madder and more
determined to get him reminds me of human behavior. Although some people appear
to think that loud, blustery threats are the means to power and influence, they
more often generate anger and opposition. Whether in the workplace or at home,
screeching at someone who has messed up humiliates and makes enemies. And if you
happen to be on the receiving end, an in-kind reply seldom serves a good purpose
and only escalates the tension and hostility.
"A kind answer soothes angry feelings," the Bible says, "but harsh words stir
them up" (Proverbs 15:1 CEV).
Try to remember that the next time you find yourself out on a limb.
Rubel Shelly FAX of Life GBCIII@aol.com
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