“People watching” is one of my favorite pastimes. I love observing public interactions, picking up on peoples’ idiosyncrasies, and seeing how they express their personalities through their fashion.
Sometimes, this practice allows me to meet interesting people. I’m naturally curious and enjoy learning their stories.
Recently, I was waiting in line at Starbucks when I noticed a person wearing a T-shirt that piqued my curiosity. The T-shirt read: Skunk Bear Don’t Care.
I had a lot of questions. What’s a skunk bear? Is it a type of bear? Is it an actual animal? And most importantly, why doesn’t it care?
Caring is a core component of being a good teammate, so references to not caring tend to draw my attention. I despise apathy.
The person wearing the t-shirt graciously explained to me that a skunk bear is a nickname for a wolverine—the local high school’s mascot.
I was completely unaware of this fact. I learned that wolverines have several nicknames. They’re also called the glutton, woods devil, Indian devil, carcajou, quickhatch, and nasty cat.
To my delight, the person continued to explain, in wonderful detail, that wolverines are not native to the area. The name was chosen for its alliteration. Nevertheless, the person felt it was the perfect mascot.
Wolverines are clever and resourceful. They have a reputation for ferocity disproportionate to their size and are known to take on prey much bigger than themselves, such as wolves, mule deer, moose, and bison.
The statement about them not caring had nothing to do with apathy; it was about courage.
Wolverines don’t care if they’re undersized; they’re ferocious anyway. Wolverines don’t care if the weather is unpleasant; they’re ferocious anyway. Wolverines don’t care if the fight is unfair; they’re ferocious anyway.
Wolverines are undeterred by intimidation, inconvenience, or seemingly insurmountable odds. They ferociously proceed anyway. Hence, skunk bears don’t care.
When it comes to courage, good teammates embrace the skunk bear’s approach to not caring.
Good teammates don’t care if what’s asked of them is inconvenient, intrusive, or intimidating. Nor do they care if others think what’s asked of them is insulting. If their teams need it, good teammates have the courage to do it.
They proceed because they understand it’s not the size of the skunk bear in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the skunk bear. Good teammates are defined by their willingness to courageously and ferociously fight for their teams’ success—regardless of the odds.
As always…Good teammates care (*and care enough to not care). Good teammates share. Good teammates listen. Go be a good teammate.
