Just Hide and Watch

“Hide and watch” is a succinct expression with a wealth of meaning. Basically it means to sit back, keep a low profile, let a situation run its course, and observe what happens. Naturally there’s more to it than that.

Humans are by nature political creatures. Our decisions often don’t tally with reality. How often have you seen a situation where the person who has to make a decision is basing that decision more on wishful thinking or on prejudice than on logic and common sense?

Often an unbiased observer (or anyone with a lick of sense) can foresee the inevitable result, but the decision-maker can’t be swayed. Sometimes you know it’s useless to even try.

Sometimes two egos are set for a collision. Or someone’s mind is made up to continue on a potentially disastrous course and they don’t want to be confused by inconvenient facts. In that case, the safest thing for the bystanders is to remain uninvolved and stay out of range of the inevitable explosion.

You know you’re going to be watching the canoe go over the waterfall, but there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Best thing to do, as we say in Texas, is just hide and watch.

Another use of “hide and watch” is to express defiance on the part of someone who is acting against all logic. That would be the person who is making a prediction or decision that seems to defy common sense: “You don’t believe I’m right? Well, you just hide and watch!”

When the inevitable happens, it’s advisable not to say “I told you so.” (In fact, as previously explained, it’s best not to have told them so to begin with.) But that doesn’t keep you from quietly enjoying the satisfaction of being right.

And then, too, if you’re wrong, nobody knows it.