Whenever I enter a party, I am not drawn to the dazzling, charismatic individual surrounded by fashionable companions and influencers; I always find my gaze going to the person who’s sitting on their own. Yes, I know — I’m such a stereotypical goth. Anyway… curiously, this seems to extend to the natural world.
Every time I walk past the local supermarket in the summer there’s a whole bunch of ducks hanging out there. Today, however, all the ducks had moved on to the park opposite, while one lone duck had decided to continue hanging out. I paused and pondered this mysterious mallard.
Firstly, you may be wondering why the ducks are hanging around the supermarket in the first place. That, at least, is no mystery. Ducks are hanging around the supermarket rather than a local pond for the same reason you are hanging out at the supermarket and not a local pond: resources. Ducks want bread. Supermarkets are full of bread. Customers have just bought bread. Customers like ducks, because who doesn’t like a duck. Customers like giving their bread to the ducks and how many ducks don’t love a free lunch… zero!
As for the lone duck, I concluded there was no great mystery here either. According to a readily available chat bot, unlike certain other birds such as geese, the ducks have a far more independent slant, and sometimes a duck simply decides not to follow the group. His motives could have been many: perhaps he’d already eaten, perhaps the park didn’t appeal, perhaps he was enjoying a moment of quiet autonomy. Or perhaps, like me, he was just a stereotypical goth — cosplaying at being alone and miserable, while actually being perfectly happy that way.
