I ignored the elephant and got a reputation for being rude. Who do you think you are? the elephant taunted. But if you’re in a room with an elephant and it’s talking directly to you, in a challenging tone no less, is it wise to engage? Eye contact intended to be conciliatory might be misinterpreted for aggression. I could hear the snickering from other non-Elephantidae in the room, “snooty…elitist…uncivilized…insolent…gross.” I ignored them, too, stuck my gaze to the wall, kept my movements slow, fluid, unthreatening. Survival over peer pressure. And conjured my late mother, while the elephant snaked its trunk around my shoulders – a heavy, snorting, wire-haired noose. She said, when I came home wounded from school, “Hon, you can’t be everyone’s favorite. Find your tribe, the ones you connect with, trust, and you’ll be okay in life, dear.”