When Acting Crazy is Part of the Plan

We all know someone who is a little off. Chances are they might be family members, neighbors, or even fellow employees. Or you.

I live in a place known as the Antelope Valley and, to be kind, there are many, um, flavorful people here. There are those who might wear tinfoil upon their heads, to make sure that the government cannot read their minds, while there are some who dress in such a way that could only be described as "People-of-WalMart-Worthy". (For more info on that, please visit www.peopleofwalmart.com).

This desert has a tendency to breed crazy. That being said, there are thousands of wonderful, good-natured, folk who live here as well. It's just that they have learned to stay indoors where it's not so crazy and, thus, are not seen around town that much. 

But sometimes, and this is just sometimes, acting crazy might be the appropriate plan of action. King David did this once when he was escaping from King Saul by going to see King Achish of the land of Gath. Once there, the people of Gath warned the King that David was one who is esteemed even more than Saul. (Saul and the people of Gath did not get along too well). This freaked David out and he chose a simple escape plan: he acted nuts.

Here is the story from 1 Samuel 21:

10 That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath. 11 But the servants of Achish said to him, “Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:

   “‘Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?”

 12 David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath. 13 So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.

 14 Achish said to his servants, “Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me? 15 Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?”

David acted crazy so as to escape death. Smart. When I was in high school, I escaped the wrath of certain bullies by using humor to calm them down. I think all of us have a few tricks we've learned to curtail the malicious intent of others. But, on a much smaller scale, what tricks do we employ to escape getting in trouble when we're late, forgot to do something, or simply failed? Do we lie, make excuses, or play dumb? Or do we own up to it and take it? 

Some of us are really good at owning up to our junk while some of us, um, not so much. Where do you find yourself on this scale?