Radio teaches me about the eagle

ABBA’s “Eagle” was playing when I switched on the car radio this morning. It’s a lovely song, an old favourite, and I hadn’t heard it in a long time. “At last,” I thought, “a good start to a morning drive to make up for that bullock-cart episode from yesterday.” But the song ended as all good things must, and the radio jockey came on, as all bad things do. She cleared her throat in that terror-inducing, schoolteacher-ish way the RJs on AIR-FM do whenever they are about to say something Very Important and Deeply Meaningful, and then she spoke the following sentences (this is 95 per cent accurate; I have an uncanny memory for these things):

I love that song, because it’s all about the eagle. There are so many things we can learn from this inspirational bird. I am now going to tell you some principles of the eagle.

First of all, the eagle flies alone, and he soars high in the air, far above all the other birds. He keeps his head high. He flies only with other eagles, never in a flock (sic). From this we learn to keep our own counsel and not to mingle with the lesser birds like the sparrow and the robin.

What an excellent metaphor for the caste system! I was all ears now. No question of changing the channel anyway because there was a Simon & Garfunkel song on.

(RJ returns, clears throat, sound of phlegm being displaced)

The second principle of the eagle is his great focus. When he sights his prey from afar, even if it is a small rodent, he never takes his eyes off it. From this we learn to be single-minded and purposeful in everything we do.

And after the next song:

The third principle of the eagle (ehm! ehm!) is this: test before you trust. When a male eagle wishes to mate with a female eagle, she swoops down and picks up a twig from the ground, and then flies up with the male hotly in pursuit. When she reaches a point high up in the air she drops the twig and the male has to fly down quickly to catch it. She does this repeatedly, and only when she has satisfied herself that he is reliable does she allow him to mate with her.

No wonder the population of these silly birds is decreasing, I’m thinking.

The twig (the RJ continues) stands for commitment. By this the eagle teaches us that we must be sincere and dedicated in all our relationships, both personal and professional.

And then I reached my destination and never found out what else we can learn from the eagle. But arguably the most important lesson of the day has been to stick with the new (radio jockey-free) channel 95 FM. (Except that they play Fanaa songs and "Hips Don't Lie" 40 times a day.)