The ability to keep your mouth shut!
There are two abilities that have become almost completely unknown nowadays. First, the ability to keep your mouth shut, and second, the ability to concentrate. Today we’re only dealing with the ability to keep your mouth shut.
For example, there’s this nearly 20-year-old story from a German magazine.
The story is about Monika Rothgänger, who kept an Indian flying fox named Max as a pet. After activists became aware that Rothgänger was keeping the flying fox in her apartment during an event, the animal was confiscated by authorities and handed over to the Berlin Species Protection Team (BAT). A court case followed, in which Rothgänger prevailed, as the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species did not apply at the time of the flying fox’s acquisition. Nevertheless, the flying fox was not returned to Rothgänger.
The conservationists claim that Rothgänger did not keep the flying fox in a species-appropriate manner and that the animal had recovered under their care. Rothgänger disputes this and claims that Max was happy with her and that she could even communicate with him. A court date is pending to resolve the matter.
Whatever one thinks of this, what’s interesting is this:
A harmless evening event became Monika Rothgänger’s undoing: Activists from the Berlin Species Protection Team (BAT) had invited people to a lecture on the eating habits of bats. While the animal rights activists were lecturing about the flying foxes’ preference for fruit, an older lady in the audience grew irritated. Her neighbor, the visitor contradicted, owned a specimen that frequently and gladly ate Vienna sausages.
Wow. This neighbor knew something. The woman goes to an event specifically to raise her hand like “Teacher, I know something”. Giant flying foxes eat sausages. She knew that for sure. I hate nothing more in life than such people. People who “know something” and simply can’t keep their mouths shut. Without that, the whole trouble wouldn’t have happened at all. To get attention for 10 seconds, she destroyed years of work and effort.
Or this current story about the Ukrainian defected helicopter pilot. A Russian helicopter pilot who handed over his helicopter to the Ukrainian army and received a considerable sum for it was found dead in Spain. Ukrainian authorities confirmed the death, while media reports suggested he was found shot after bringing his ex-girlfriend to his place. The identity of the deceased has not yet been confirmed by Spanish authorities, but documents indicate he was Ukrainian. In Moscow, the pilot’s death was met with schadenfreude, as he was viewed as a traitor and criminal. The pilot had received a considerable sum of money as part of a defection from Russia to Ukraine. Ukraine offers rewards for surrendered Russian military equipment, with the highest premium set for a fighter jet.
Okay, his two comrades died during the escape. It’s unclear whether he shot them himself. But that’s not the point here, but this:
Vitaly talks about Kuzminov’s stepfather, who lived right across from the crime scene. One evening, Vitaly says, the stepfather got drunk in a Ukrainian restaurant and bragged that his stepson had stolen a helicopter and handed it over to the Ukrainians. At the time, Vitaly says, he thought it was just the ramblings of a drunk. Now the story appears to him in a different light.
Just imagine this. His stepfather brags about the story in some bar, just to be the center of attention for 10 seconds. Ten seconds that cost Vitaly his life.
I know two things: