Toronto's Rob Ford and the saying “The leopard can’t change his spots”
Lately this very irritating saying “the
leopard can’t change his spots” has been running through my head reminding me
of my childhood when I had to endure my well-meaning betters who, with frowns
on their faces,chastised me for my many faults and ending with this
comment: "the leopard can't change his spots, you know" You can imagine the effect on a
small child of this weighty burden inflicted on it. Yes, dear readers I, even
as an adorable child, had faults and they weren’t very nice ones. I will list
some of them-laziness, slovenliness, a tendency to whine, lingering in bed in
the mornings and worst of all, day- dreaminess. This last one was so pronounced
that, as my sister tells me, my grade one teacher assigned a fellow classmate
to poke me when she wanted my attention. I, being an intelligent child, always
had my gaze out the window dreaming of India,
Africa, lions and tigers. Why adults would
repeat this saying to emphasize a child’s faults instead of his good points is
incomprehensible. How refreshing it would have been to hear “You are very good
at this or that and will always be so and remember, like the leopard, you can’t
change your spots” How reassuring for the child. I was not happy with who I
was as a child but I did try to “change
my spots” including my freckles which I tried with no success to rid with lemon
juice as my grandmother assured me I would not find a husband with them. When
it became time as a young woman to choose a profession, I decided against my
first choice of being a missionary- I was still hankering after lions and
tigers-and chose the nursing profession. Next to the Army, nursing school is
the best place to change these spots- or so I thought and indeed, I spent the
next three years getting up at six a.m. and spent days and years cleaning
things wearing a sparkling white starched bib and apron and ,I kid you not, black shoes and
stockings-an impressive sartorial image. Did I succeed? No, I did not. I am not
known for my domestic skills. I do not get up at dawn-much to the delight of my
neighbours. Nothing stirs in my house before 9am and of course I still am a
dreamer-after all I am an artist and this is an asset. I am now looking at my
leopard spots with new positive eyes. And now I come to the purpose of this
blog- For the past few weeks we have been beleaguered with the unsavoury story
of Toronto’s
mayor, Mr. Ford. Now there is a big leopard with bigger spots who has never, will never, and has no
intention of ever changing them. I am disgusted along with everyone else with
this story, but must confess to, in a teensy way, feeling a reluctant
admiration for him. He is not backing down, not stepping down, and though he
says he is sorry, there are no crocodile tears. “I am sorry” he says “I don’t
know what else to say, this happened but I am not stepping down no matter what”
in other words, like Popeye the sailor man he says “I "yam"what I "yam" and that’s what I "yam.” He stands firm with all his spots. So next
time someone condescendingly points out your spots and pulls out this old saw,
say “yes I know and aren't they great!"
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