The Boiled Frog Syndrome

Take a six-quart pan. Fill it with water. Put it on the oven. Turn the heat on high. While waiting for the water to reach a rolling boil, catch one mid-sized frog. When the water achieves that boil, toss the frog in. Don’t worry; the frog won’t get hurt. The shock of the temperature change will compel the amphibian to immediately leap out. It happens every time.

Now refill the same pot with warm water. Put the frong in before turning on the heat. Enjoy watching the frog demonstrate the backstroke. Turn the heat on "low." Every couple of minutes, increase the heat incrimentally until the water is boiling. At that point and with apologies to the ASPCA and PETA, you'll have one very dead (and well done) frog. The gradual change in temperature will go unnoticed by the little guy into it's too late.

What just occurred is called boiled frog syndrome. 

(From http://www.randgolletz.com/articles/2012/12/dont-succumb-to-the-boiled-frog-syndrome/)

This syndrome has been applied to everything from education, business, and even to politics and religion. Click here for a video on this concept: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyBKz1wdK0M

How can we apply this in our own community? It seems a tad bit silly to compare the activity of a cold-blooded animal to the actions of a warm-blooded animal like humans. But look around, and you can see the temperature of the pot of water - our community - rising on a constant basis.

How do we know we are sitting in a pot of boiled water? Unlike the frog, humans have the cognitive awareness to look around them and make assumptions based on their situation. When it looks like the temperature is getting hotter, are you going to sit and bake, slowly adjusting to the surrounding changing until you die, or will you hope out of the pot and make a difference?

How may times have you heard this:

"That government leader, he/she is so wrong about everything."
"I hate that school, they have so many problems."
"I'm so mad at [insert big box business here]. They are destroying our local businesses."
"It's cheaper to eat unhealthy food, I can't afford anything healthy."
"I hate living in this neighborhood, no one seems to take care of their car/yard/children." 

Stop letting the water boil around you. 

Tired of your government? Vote to change it. Better yet, run for office and take a stand against changes.

Tired of schools closing? Join a board to help spread the word about budget changes and legislature. Take an active stance in your Parent Teacher's Association and bring about change. Don't wait for some agency to advise children on bullying issues. Take a stand in your own home and don't let you children bully, or be bullied, or be a vicimized bystander.

Tired of big box stores destroying local business? Don't shop there. Klamath is blessed with many local places for all your needs. Go to the local Farmer's Market (runs from June - October every year) and support local farmers who produce healthy alternatives. Shop at Thunderbird, a locally owned and operated grocery store. 

Tired of of your neighborhood? Offer to do some yard work, and plant some flowers to brighten the front of the house for know that neighbor that struggles to mow their over grown lawn once a week. Offer to let the use of your trailer to help them that neighbor that has garbage piling up outside their house, who probably doesn't have the resources to take care of it themselves. 

It's easier to complain than it is to change the world.

It's also easier to let the water boil around you instead of getting out and making a stand. 

Don't be a boiled frog.

(Special thanks to M.F. for sharing this concept with us.)