Feeding Crocodiles

The other day I ran across a video on You Tube that showed a film of a man diving into a lake that was filled with crocodiles. What he did was not an accident. He knew the crocs were there. Still he  dove in any way with no weapons or protective gear. Tied around his waste was a small satchel of dead fish. Given this scenario, the only logical explanation I could come up as I watched him enter the water without any apparent worries was that he had lost the will to live and wanted to die by turning himself into a snack for a bunch of hungry, meat-eating reptiles. I confess to having mixed feelings about watching this video as the last thing I wanted to see was a human being ripped apart and eaten. Shame on me, but I still watched it. 

In seconds, a bunch of crocs surfaced above the water and quickly headed toward the man. I was prepared to turn off my computer if what I was expecting to see got too graphic. But much to my surprise, the man began pulling from his satchel the dead fish and feeding them to the crocs as if they were ducks in a duck pond. Several of the crocs actually jumped up on the man with their mouths wide open and were rewarded with their treat. None of them attempted to chow-down on the man. If any got too close, the man casually batted them away. The clip lasted a few minutes and ended with the man feeding the crocs. I assume the man eventually left the water unharmed or, more to the point, eaten.

This man dove into the water with a specific message: feed the crocodiles. It was a "talking point" that was clear to him and one, ultimately, that was put forth to his "public," which included the crocs and people like me who watched the film clip. It did not take long for us audience members to understand what he was communicating despite the fact we were a bit confused at first. The man communicated his message and all of left the encounter with a level of satisfaction that we did not have before. The power of clear communication was on display. (For the record, while I appreciated his effort and the lesson I drew from it, I still believe the man was foolish to do what he did. After all, not all efforts to communicate are successful.)