The Backson in the Hundred Acre Wood

We have been watching a lot of Pooh Bear lately because it is not annoying and Carson loves it. The episode this morning is Eeyore’s tail is missing, no one in the hundred acre wood can find it. Christopher Robin comes up with the idea to have a contest to replace the tail. It does not go well and eeyore still has a tailless bottom. When it seems like there is no more options, Owl out of no where blames it on the “Backson”. 

The Backson is not real. It is imaginary. Owl makes it up. That does not stop him from telling everyone about it though. He tells Pooh and the gang all about and the awful things it does and is. 

“It's a Giant creature with a tail

Here I'll draw Piglet in for scale

His hide is like a shaggy rug

His face a surely ugly mug

With two sharp horns atop his head

In between a mop of hair that's red

And in his nose a ring of gold

It smells of monkey's feet and mold

Its toes are black

Its fur is blue

I swear that all I tell you is not made up

The Backson!

The Backson!

The Backson!

The Backson!

Oh no!

But Owl what does the Backson do?

Yes Owl what does the Backson do?

Hmm, what does the Backson do?

I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking, I'm thinking and now I will tell you

They sneak into your library and scribble in all your books

The Backson, The Backson! We don't like the Backson!

When decorating your Christmas tree, they tangle up all the hooks!

The Backson! The Backson! We're afraid of the Backson.

They spoil the milk, they stop all the clocks, they use their horns to put hole in your socks

The Backson's the one who's been putting holes in our socks!”

As you have probably guessed, this sends everyone in a tizzy and on a hunt for the backson. Piglet is scared out of his mind, Rabbit leads the way, and Tigger bounces everywhere to set a trap. All the friends start losing their minds over the possibility that the Backson might get Christopher Robin! Pooh, Rabbit, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyor, Kanga, and Roo start panicking even more and make up situations where the Backson takes their stuff and captures them! It pure chaos at this point in the story. For real, where is Christopher Robin right now?!? 

Owl made up a false sole antagonist. Bear with me (pun intended). I am watching this episode and I cannot help but see the blaring similarity it has to current times, specifically social media and the media in general. I get on Facebook, which is my choice.  It saddens me to see what individuals are assuming and believing character traits, ideals, and principles of another person through a screen based on a stupid social media post. Have you seen a thread or the comments section lately? It is brutal! You almost cannot finish reading it because it is that horrible. 

Elections, media cycles, fads, politicized issues come and go but the relationships you have with others lasts much longer than that. The relationship is also more valuable than losing it over a instagram picture or post. 

I hear you, posting about civics, ethics, and personal beliefs on Facebook, Instagram, tik tok is not close to being an effective way to have dialogue. You cannot capture emotions or the thought process behind it. It is so much more productive to have conversations like that in person. These conversations are incredibly important to have! These conversations further us as a united country and further us as a united world. 

My hope this next year is that we collectively discover our humanity and relearn how to live among and love our neighbor again. It has always been about the common good and being a friend to our neighbor who may have some differing opinions than us. I hope we do not make a false antagonist out of our neighbors, family, and friends. I hope we find peace and kindness in each other’s words and actions again like Pooh and his friends always do. 

Shalom,

Rachelle