I have heard that this bird can fly up ones nose. Figuratively speaking, I believe that when the bird of paradise flies up your nose, it may be that what you thought was a good and great thing to happen may have some flies in its ointment. Or maybe it is that one mans feast is another mans famine? Check out the lyrics below and see................One fine day as I was a-walkin' down the street
Spied a beggar man with rags upon his feet
Took a penny from my pocket
In his tin cup I did drop it
I heard him say as I made my retreat
"May the bird of paradise fly up your nose"
"May an elephant caress you with his toes"
"May your wife be plagued with runners in her hose"
"May the bird of paradise fly up your nose"
The laundry man is really on his toes
Found a hundred-dollar bill among my clothes
When he called me I came a-runnin'
Gave him back his dime for phonin'
I heard him sayin' as I turned to go,
May the bird of paradise fly up your nose!
Was way behind one day to catch the train
Taxi driver said "We'll make it just the same"
The speed cop made it with us
And as he wrote out the ticket
I stood by politely a-waitin' for my change
Maybe the lesson here is that no good deed goes unpunished. One could say and know from experience there are lots of time when a favor, kindness, help, whatever are done and the recipient will never think enough was done for them.
We had a situation here at the office where our handles on the hot and cold water faucets in the ladies room were old, cracked and just needed replacing. Mind you, some of us were ecstatic to even have a ladies room, but I digress.......
One sunny day we came to work and the faucets had been replaced with brand new, shiny and sparkling fixtures. Very nice! I was in this facility later in the day and one of my co-workers was washing her hands and in a really nasty tone said "well, they should have replaced the sink too!" I wanted to ask her if she had ever pulled wings off of butterflies, but I didn't......
It is similar to when you spend all day cooking, say, Thanksgiving dinner and while everyone is eating you may hear, "well, there could be a little more salt in this," or, one of my personal favorites, "I like so and so's dressing better." One may not need to ask whether or not I still engage in cooking such meals, because I DO NOT. For the past few years my husband and I go out to eat on holidays and my compliments are always paid to the chef, not to mention the waitperson and any other staff that assist. On any worst day at work, I contemplate how horrible it would be to REALLY wait on the public and then I remember how much love I have for my present job!
We all know there ARE times when we do wish a bird of paradise situation on others. Maybe we are in traffic with some rude road-rage jerk, maybe we are treated badly as a customer. In those times, we could use the newer lyrics to the song as follows:
may the bird of paradise fly up your nose,
may the mud crawl between your toes.
may you get lost in the fog
may you sink in a bog.
you won't be missed, that's for sure
unfortunately for us, there is no cure,
to rid us of american cheese
so do get lost, please.
