Pick your battles

WARNING: this blog may contain mixed metaphors.

image source:www.stlucianewsonline.com 

Kenny Rogers tells us that we have to know when to hold ‘em and know when to fold ‘em. I am not a card shark or a gambler however I know when to pick a fight.

If thrust into a ring with Wladimir Klitschko from Ukraine I and certain I would trip over my own feet and stay of the mat for the full 10 count before he even thought about laying one of  his heavy weight champion gloves on me.

Tony Abbott knew when to fold ‘em in January when he backed away from his Paid Parental Leave Scheme. It was not a fight that he was going to win against a combative Senate. If only he thought about the fight he was starting on Australia Day in the investiture of Sir His Royal Highness Prince Phillip. The public ridiculed him, the Palace ignored him, his beloved media dismissed him and now his own party are shaping up to end him.

Life is full of fights. You get over charged $1 at a restaurant, consider it a tip, $10 quietly speak to your waiter, $100 speak to the manager.

This is why so many teenagers can be so difficult. They do not understand what issues are worth $1, everything is a $100 issue.

Curfew – fight.

Dating and sex – fight

Cigarettes, alcohol and drugs – fight

Driving – fight

School and job – fight

Fashion style – fight

Haircut – fight

Hygiene – fight

Tidying bedroom – fight

Waking up at 3 in the afternoon only to spend the next 4 hours on the couch in underwear and t-shirt watching TV or playing videos only communicating with anyone through text message and eating but pizza – fight.

Wanting a pay rise because you help train all new staff, take on tasks of more experienced staff, problem solve and assist in developing new innovations for for your employer. Hold’em, strap on the gloves and fight.

Want a pay rise because you have been doing nothing more or less than what in your job description, and doing it for a long time. Fold ‘em. Take a dive.

You join the cast in a reality television show in an attempt to revive a flagging career and redefine your “celebrity”.  Be like Merv and lay down and preen your back hair. Let the other contestants fight each other and their own minds. Merv’s action clearly show that in his own mind he is already of out there.