Memo to self: start following this Zitrin guy on Twitter.
Ok, so young OttoinGrotto lived way out in the middle of nowhere in Argentina for a couple of years as a Mormon missionary. My favorite town was Las Lomitas in the province of Formosa. Very poor little town, fantastic people.
Anyway, there were a lot of wild animals that pretty freely roamed the town. There was a pack of wild horses that would roll through main street, buncha pigs (chasing the piglets was a BLAST), chickens, every once in a while some cattle would end up in town. It was great. The biggest though was this huge herd of goats. They were a bit of a problem.
See, they could block off whole streets at a time. They moved when they felt like moving. It wasn't a huge town, so it might mean going a block or two out of your way, so it wasn't like it was a huge deal. But it was annoying. If you tried to walk through them they'd do the herd thing and push you out.
One day we're in town, just talking with a bunch of people, and the goats come up in conversation. This one guy says he knows the secret to getting by them, so of course everybody listens. He says you approach a goat, make a fist, and lightly press your knuckles against the top of its head. He says it'll resist a little, but hold your ground and then push harder and the goat will yield. You then go one by one alternating hands, pushing goats out of the way, until you're through.
Turns out, he was dead on. It really worked. Over time, I think the goats learned to like it. When we approached they'd turn their heads towards us, and sometimes when you got towards the end of the heard, some of the goats on the outside would shuffle over to be in the path to get their nudge. I don't know, maybe the attention was nice to them or something.
That's what I was reminded of when I saw that pack of goats.
