Pidgeons

Kid runs up to a pidgeon. The kid’s about five. I don’t know how old the pidgeon is. The pidgeon flies backwards, just out of reach and the kid runs at it again. He’s got that little kid way of running where his hands are in front of him, flapping about.

It’s a jerky kind of encounter. When the pidgeon flaps its wings aggressively enough the little boy gets spooked and jumps back, then regains confidence and charges again. I think ‘little boy intimidating bird’ traces out a particular pattern of human movement; I’m going to attempt to draw it. Imagine you’re overhead, watching the path of the boy.

Now contrast this with the following pattern, tracing the kid moments later:

Why are there more angles and shorter lengths? More pidgeons! Run at that pidgeon; it flies off. Suddenly that other pidgeon is closer, so change direction and chase that one. Third pidgeon – new trajectory.

There you go: Donald Trump’s media strategy. More pidgeons.