I have often wondered about the creature I would like to call “The Big Fish in the Little Pond”.

These are the good folks who give their time to serve on committees of, well, for the purpose of this website, home-owners’ associations.

Now in my relatively vast experience of dealing with committees, bodies corporate and other such creatures, I have come to the conclusion that the Big Fish can normally be categorised in three groups:

1. Those who are bullied into serving because no-one else wants to do the job. I found that this would account for at least 70% of the Big Fish phenomenon. They either get things done (because the job is a schlep and it is best to do things quickly and effectively so that they can get on with their own lives), or they just sit back and do nothing. Usually, they are pretty OK and get along with almost everyone

2. Then you get the young(ish) Yuppie-types who desperately need:

a) the brownie-points
b) can use the affiliation with the Little Pond to advance his/her career
c) something to further his/her social standing.

Those who want to further their social standing normally just remain quietly in the background not saying much for fear of being kicked out of the Pond. It’s enough just to be on the Committee.

Those who want to further their careers make it abundantly well known. They flex their muscles and make waves, after all, it will only serve him/her well to show leadership.

But, you also get those who just use their affiliation to further their own hobby-horses/social standing. Now we do have one or two of this type of Big Fish serving on the Marina Da Gama’s Executive Committee. We won’t be rude and name names, but it may answer your questions about why we are inundated with items about a certain Vrygrond-project in the by-monthly newsletter published by the Association.

3. The third type is the really amusing one – The Bored Retiree. Oi, can this person be a problem!! There are two sub-categories for this kind of Big Fish:

• He used to have a professional, demanding career in his heyday, but now life has chewed him up and spit him out and he is sort of at a loose end. The minions are no longer around to satisfy his every need and he finds it difficult to fill the long, lonely hours between sunrise and sunset.

• Alternatively, he had a very boring, mundane job, and now, finally he has the chance to show his steel and rule the roost. (Unfortunately for some, it turned out to be a roost of headless chickens.)

The Bored Retiree Big Fish wants to show that he still has what it takes to be the Killer Whale. No-one can tell him what to do, as he has been there, done that, and his wife is already using the t-shirt as a floor-mop as he wore it to threads.
Unfortunately, the thinks-he-is-a-Killer-Whale often turns out to be nothing more than a Guppy, but it does not stop him from splashing around trying to convince everyone that he still has what it takes. One has to admit though – they do create a most amusing spectacle.
What a pity that, sooner or later, the guppy bubble will burst. Can’t imagine what a bursting Guppy will look like …. but I guess we will soon find out!!!