The Fable of the Frog and the Boiling Pot of Water

Why are we more likely to listen to stories with kittens, puppies and other animals in them?

Image by Gemini AI Studio

Fables: The Hare and the Tortoise; the Boy Who Cried Wolf; Chicken Little (The sky is falling) and the Lion and the Mouse. Remember them?

Mom and Dad would grab a book off the shelf and read a few before you went to bed. The questions asked – can turtles run on two legs, are wolves really that smart were good questions.

Reasonable questions that children ask because they’re curious. Because the story doesn’t quite match their current reality, but it’s not too far off. It’s how they learn.

But what about adults, do we still like fables? Are we still capable of learning when we hear them? Or are they just for kids?

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In our story, the frog finds a great pot of water and thinks, why not? It’s right there, what could go wrong? ”

So, he starts swimming, round and round. The water gets a little warm, but it’s pleasant and relaxing. It grows warmer still until the frog gets sleepy. He stops swimming and just floats, drifting off into a peaceful, long-lasting sleep.

We know the ending; he doesn’t make it. He becomes lunch. So sad.

So, why a fable? Maybe to teach a lesson that has an animal in it.

A new era has dawned politically, emotionally, and financially. The Gulf of Mexico is now the Gulf of America. Sure, why not? Just reprint the maps and textbooks.

Young twenty-something, proteges of Elon Musk are rooting through our medical records looking for ways to cut costs. Why now? Is it safe?

Tariffs are being laid down and the President is rattling his sword about taking over the Panama Canal, Greenland, and making Canada the 51^st State. But he’s not serious. He’s Trump. There's nothing to worry about, not really.

We’re good though. We got Trump stickers on the backs of our cars. We have MAGA hats that we wear to church. We voted for him and went to his rallies. He knows who we are.

The frog didn’t realize the water was getting hot because it happened so slowly. He got drowsy at first then slowly drifted into unconsciousness.

Then… well, we know how it ended.

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When the fable was written it wasn’t really about frogs or pots. You know that, right?

And when The Tortoise and Hare first came out, it wasn’t really about them racing with their friends cheering along the way, you know that too, right?

Fables are written about something that’s happening in the world around us. About our government or our leaders or the way we humans interact with each other.

It’s not about a wolf and some sheep (though they are important in their own ways). Or a chicken who gets hit in the head with an acorn and thinks a piece of the sky just fell on him. That the world might be ending.

When a congressman or senator answers a moderator’s question and says – Well, yes what Trump is doing now might violate the Constitution, but I’m not losing any sleep over it, what does that mean?

That the oath each of them took to defend the Constitution was just a suggestion?

Or are we just like the frog in the fable? Shrugging and not having any real problem with the bluster the attacks and the threats to our loyal neighbors because nothing has actually happened.

We’re not really attacking Quebec. Or landing troops on Greenland, so lighten up. Don’t take things so seriously.

And maybe these representatives and senators are right. Nothing to worry about. The water is still cold. No danger. We’ll know when anything bad is about to happen.

Just like the frog knew.