There are strange things that happen and the wise man just accepts them and goes with the flow. People are an odd lot and to try to bring them around to the correct point of view (yours) is a thankless task. It's easier and generally more rewarding to take them as they are.
Take Furries, for instance. Do you tell them that they're idiots and should smarten up their ideas or do you just say "Really? How interesting," and make it work for you?
I tend to go with the second option. Who am I to judge what someone else does? I probably have faults of my own. None that I know of, but others may disagree.
The reason I mentioned Furries is because I had an odd run-in with them the other week. Let me tell you what happened.
I was driving along a country road. It was a back road that was meandering through a forested area and I was just idling along, enjoying the scenery and taking my time.
While deep in the woods I spotted a car by the side of the road. All its flashers were going and there was a bear standing next to the car trying to wave me down. Yes, that's what I thought. A bear wants me to stop?
Being born curious I drew up behind the other car and the bear came running over to me. Now that I was closer I could see that the bear was a young woman in a fur costume. Not a coat - a complete costume including a head piece and tail.
"Um, masquerade party?" I asked, getting out of the car. I couldn't think of any other reason why such a cute young woman would be dressed up like that.
"No," came the indignant protest. "I'm a Furry. We had a meeting out in the woods today. I've had a puncture and I can't change the wheel. I had a go but I just can't loosen the nuts. I've been waiting for an hour for someone to come past."
The wait didn't surprise me. This was a rather off the track route. The wheel would be easy fixed. Right now I was more interested in what a Furry was.
"A meeting in the woods. Like the Teddy Bears picnic?" I asked her.
"No such thing," I was smartly informed. "I said I was a Furry. We all dress up as the animal we perceive ourselves to really be and then we meet in the woods to commune with nature and to get in touch with our inner animal. We try to live and breathe as our inner animal for the day. Can you help me with my wheel?"
I strolled around my little furry friend, checking her out. As I said, cute. I quickly decided that with those ears and that tail she wasn't a bear. I also noticed with some amusement that the costume had an undoable flap at the rear. It was easy to work out why. Out in the woods in a furry suit, if you get a call from Mother Nature you don't want to have to skin yourself to answer it. A handy little flap would do. Probably stuck via Velcro, I decided. A quick tug to undo and then just press back into position afterwards. Interesting possibilities.
"Obviously not a bear," I murmured. "Let me guess. A stoat or a weasel?"
Talk about insulted. I received a very indignant denial. Something more exotic, I decided.
"OK. Perhaps a marten?" I said.
"I'm a mink! Are you blind. Can't you recognise a mink when you see one?" my Furry snapped.
"Not when they're five feet tall," I told her. "OK, Miss Mink, I'll fix your wheel and you can thank me in an appropriate mink-like fashion."