Generalists

In Environmental Science we learned a term: Generalists. That might sound like a bad thing to you; I am always asking my writing students to be more specific with their details and descriptions, but actually it is the Generalists that survive.
I was walking on the Greenway a few days ago and noticed a squirrel climbing down a utility pole. The squirrel is a Generalist. It climbs wherever it can, feeds on nuts and seeds wherever it can find them, and survives in many new situations and circumstances. Squirrels drive my father-in-law crazy as they eat up his favorite wildbirds' food, but squirrels have learned which nuts and seeds are safe and which ones need to be avoided.
The coyotes that howl in our back woods are generalists. They have learned to survive wherever they find themselves, eating mice and birds in remote areas or garbage in suburbanites' cans.
Specialists are in danger. If their environment changes too much, they can not survive. They die out because they are specially made for one place and one place only.
I have been wondering lately if I am a Generalist or a Specialist. I was raised in a time when a lot of people knew about illicit sex and illegal drugs, but I was also raised in an area where I was not exposed to those same illegitimate ways of life.
I hear words that make me cringe and can barely hear the true message of the speaker because my ears hurt. I watch dancers perform amazing feats of physical skill and athleticism, but I am unable to enjoy them because I am holding my breath hoping their outfits don't fall off.
My kids would say I am a Specialist, in danger of becoming extinct. But I think I really am a Generalist who has a good idea about which garbage cans to stay out of and which bird feeders are safe.