I have found over the years that no matter how grim a situation seems, if you pause and study the facts, you have a better understanding of the problem. When you point fingers, there are always three pointing back at you. I think this statement is credited to the Navajo people. In Navajo culture pointing fingers is not allowed. It should not be allowed in any culture, especially when the facts don’t support the accusations.

  I keep a copy of the story of Henny Penny in my desk drawer as a reminder to know the facts before taking a position. Henny Penny is a spoken story that dates back several centuries. In the written form there are several versions by different authors, so it is hard to figure out who to give credit to; Thiele 1823, Chandler 1840, Chambers 1842, Hallwell 1849, Thorpe 1853, just to name a few.

  In America, the story is most often known as Chicken Little. In its original context it is a warning to not believe everything one is told. Webster defined Chicken Little in 1895 as one who warns of or predicts calamity, especially without justification. Fearmongering, aka. “Chicken Little syndrome” is conferring catastrophic conclusions. “The sky is falling” is another common phrase that comes from this story.

  In the story, an acorn falls from a tree and hits a hen on the head. This causes her to declare that the sky is falling and she must tell the king. She then tells the cock who asked no questions and follows her. The cock tells the duck, the duck tells the goose, the goose tells the turkey and they all tell the fox, as if they know what they are talking about. The fox has a shortcut to the king and they all follow him blindly into his cave, where he kills and eats them.

  It is interesting to note that when they enter the cave, they go in reverse order; turkey, goose, duck, cock, and the one who started this whole thing goes last. In some versions the hen actually escapes, but in mine the story ends in the cave and only the consulting fox survives.

  So, why is this important you may ask? This story is playing out on our televisions as we speak. Just turn on the news. The names have varied from story to story, so you can fill in your own cast of characters. I will say, in the hen’s defense, that her story started with an acorn hitting her on the head. While her conclusions were wrong, she was reacting to a real event. In today’s story even the acorn is missing.

  So as you watch the news be mindful of the fact that the warnings from the Henny Penny story are being ignored and there is obviously no Navajo heritage in any of the people pointing fingers!