Not my circus, not my monkeys

4 watchers

minardi Aug 2017 1:18pm, 22 Aug 2017 4,008 posts	0 minardi How far do you take this wise old Polish proverb before either acting or saying something when you see something happening?
Velociraptor Aug 2017 2:11pm, 22 Aug 2017 36,703 posts	0 Velociraptor I use it at work quite a lot And apply it to a lot of threads on here and almost everything anyone posts on other social media sites.
JenL Aug 2017 2:13pm, 22 Aug 2017 27,581 posts	0 JenL A friend of mine has a Polish daughter-in-law so I asked her to ask. The daughter-in-law's take on it is that it isn't so much about avoiding or evading or not taking responsibility as about being glad you don't have to get involved, if that makes sense/was your actual question
Nutso Lazytoad! Aug 2017 2:26pm, 22 Aug 2017 1,652 posts	0 Nutso Lazytoad! I love this saying, I must use it a couple of times a week at work!
SailorSteve Aug 2017 2:33pm, 22 Aug 2017 574 posts	0 SailorSteve What a great phrase?! If someone else's circus is, or will have, an affect on my conscience, then I will probably get involved with their monkeys.
minardi Aug 2017 3:04pm, 22 Aug 2017 4,012 posts	0 minardi Thanks Jen - I'm thinking then that the proverb doesn't really apply to the thing I was thinking about. SailorSteve mentions conscience and that's more of the case in my case! Sorry to be obtuse. But I do love the phrase
Dvorak Aug 2017 3:52pm, 22 Aug 2017 14,092 posts	0 Dvorak It might depend if people were being cruel to the monkeys or not. If it was monkey tennis I'd leave them to it.
swittle Aug 2017 4:11pm, 22 Aug 2017 45,165 posts	0 swittle ...and to leave them would be a monkey wrench....
longboat Aug 2017 4:35pm, 22 Aug 2017 3,016 posts	0 longboat Reminds me of Bill Bryson's definition of the Gallic shrug: "…she gave me one of those impassive Gallic shrugs – the one where they drop their chin to belt level and try to push their ears to the top of their head with their shoulders. You have to be Gallic to do it. It translates roughly as ‘Life is a bucket of shit, monsieur, I quite agree, and while I am prepared to acknowledge this fact, I shall offer you no sympathy because, monsieur, this is your bucket of shit.’" Bill Bryson, Neither Here Nor There (1991)
Lemon10 Aug 2017 5:21pm, 22 Aug 2017 3,060 posts	0 Lemon10 I love this phrase and use it a lot. Also: I don't have a dog in this fight. Mainly because at work people try to drag others into their problems and involve them and in these situations I tend to offer my advice then beat a hasty retreat.