On Sun, 25 Nov 2012 13:47:40 -0500, you wrote: >On Sun, Nov 25, 2012 at 11:09:27AM -0500, Philip wrote: >> I once read that abolitionists who helped run escaped slaves from the >> south to Canada had a similar problem. Most of those caught were >> betrayed by other southern slaves. It was believed that their thinking >> was not "Why am I not free", but "Why is he not in chains". > >One of the more powerful social metaphors that I carry around in my >head, and see quite a bit of in society, is what I call "the crab >bucket." Most folks living around the Chesapeake Bay, where I learned >it, will recognize this one: if you catch one crab and put him in a >bucket, you'll need a lid to keep him from crawling out - but once >you've got two or more, you don't need the lid. As soon as one of them >starts crawling out, the other one will grab him and pull him back in. > >I suspect there's some equivalent of phrases like "Uncle Tommin'" and >"just who do you think you are to climb higher than the rest of us" in >crab language being tossed around in there... > > >Ben
Crabs are just really crabby. (my grandson had a sweatshirt with 'Don't bother me I'm crabby' on it) . They don't mind being in the bucket if they've got someone there to fight with. When we did our last trip north on the ICW (2004), we stopped in St. Mary's GA. The marina there wouldn't let us stay there for more than a couple months. BUT... There was a big boat owned by some richer person with a Captain who lived on the boat, and that could stay. Maybe it as because the owners didn't live on it - just an employee. _______________________________________________ Liveaboard mailing list Liveaboard@liveaboardonline.com To adjust your membership settings over the web http://liveaboardonline.com/mailman/listinfo/liveaboard To subscribe send an email to liveaboard-j...@liveaboardonline.com To unsubscribe send an email to liveaboard-le...@liveaboardonline.com The archives are at http://www.liveaboardonline.com/pipermail/liveaboard/ To search the archives http://www.mail-archive.com/liveaboard@liveaboardnow.org The Mailman Users Guide can be found here http://www.gnu.org/software/mailman/mailman-member/index.html
