A BEAR IN THE ROOM

Many years ago, I took my mother on her first trip to England.  We did all of the touristy things in and outside of London.  I rented a car and drove cautiously on the “wrong” side of the roads in the beautiful English countryside.  Mother enjoyed everything except, perhaps, my driving, which always caused her angst, no matter which side of the road/highway I drove.  We had a good time.  However, there was one thing that really did put us at logger-heads: a self-guided tour we took of the interior of Warwick Castle.  After we completed our sightseeing and were driving away from this very famous castle, my mother commented on the stuffed bear in the great hall.  “What stuffed bear?” Mother described a huge, stuffed bear, standing on its back legs with giant teeth at-the-ready.  Well, I thought my mother had finally lost it.  This was not my first trip to Warwick, and I had never seen anything like a stuffed bear! Needless to say, we spent much of the rest of the trip, “discussing” that dumb bear.  It wasn’t until we got back to New Orleans and had our film developed (I told you it was many years ago.) that the argument was settled.  There in one picture (that I had taken) of the Great Hall was a huge, stuffed bear, standing on its back legs with giant teeth at-the-ready!  Once again, Mother was correct! And so much for my powers of observation . . .

Most of us are aware of the English idiom an elephant in the room. It has come to mean that the elephant is an important and obvious topic or problem, which everyone present is aware of, but which isn't discussed, as such discussion is considered to be uncomfortable. Some experts think that its coinage was in the mid 1950’s, but it could have been earlier than that. However, as I have never seen an elephant in a room, except for museums of natural history and an occasional painting or drawing (please, no snide remarks about large Republicans), and I can now admit I’ve seen, ignored, seen, ignored, seen, ignored, and finally had to admit to a bear in the room, I choose to use the bear idiom rather than the elephant one. However. . .

In September 2006, the British artist Banksy set the phrase in visual form with an exhibit of a painted elephant in a room in the Barely Legal exhibition in Los Angeles. The theme of the exhibition was global poverty. By painting the elephant in the same bold pattern as the room's wallpaper, Banksy emphasized the phrase's meaning, by both making the elephant even more obvious and by giving those who chose to ignore it (like the woman on the couch) an opportunity to pretend that it had blended into the wallpaper background.

Whether it’s a bear or an elephant, denying the fact of its presence is never a good idea.  Right now, I’m sure each of you can think of a group of people (politicians, parents, teachers, etc.?) who deny some problems from time to time. Except for my lapse of good observations during my visits to Warwick Castle, I would like to think that I’m aware of bears in the room, even if I can’t or won’t address them fully. I can’t think that I would ever put blinders on and ignore a situation completely. Not me!!!

Here’s a photo of Warwick Castle, showing the huge bear standing in the back left of the Great Hall that my mother noticed but I did not.  You could have missed that couldn’t you?  But, what’s that?  There in the foreground!  Oh, no. . . I never noticed until now that there are two additional bears in the room. . .on the floor as bearskin rugs! OK.  Forget all of the stuff above about my never putting on blinders and never ignoring situations. Now that I remember, my family has often called me an Ostrich, hiding my head in the sand.  I just like to think that I pick and choose my battles.  Aw, heck, who am I trying to kid? I guess I wouldn’t be aware of a bear or an elephant in the room unless I were an egg and an elephant, like Horton, was sitting on me!