Email petitions are the new chain letter. Chain letters at the very least were easily ignored and at best were good for some ridicule. Seriously send ten or you get bad luck? But petitions are different. Petitions come with a cause and a side order of guilt. Guilt that sits on your skin like an expensive moisturizer. I’m thinking specifically of Fresh Age Delay Cream. At $95 bucks for a jar no larger than a quarter it seems, well excessive. And maybe it is, but damn, it works.
The subject lines of the petitions are incredibly effective because the are so urgent (Don’t let Yogaglo steal yoga… Suzy’s dad is going to lose his job) I mean, I want Suzy’s family to eat. Seriously, I’m not kidding. But Yogaglo? Meh.
I’m no slouch. I don’t ignore what needs to get done. I come from political stock and I care about leaving this world better than when I found it.
At Rutgers we marched plenty. I drove down to DC for a pro-choice rally. I went down to Occupy Wall Street and supported Trayvon.
It started by signing just one petition. That one triggered a blizzard. Do they sense the sucker? I end up reading most of them. I start thinking, ‘You know, maybe I can help from the comfort of my Black IKEA chair, MacBook Air sipping on ginseng tea and honey. Could it really be that easy?’.
Today’s email was from PETA. They want Zara to stop using a particular farm. This farm is yanking the fur off of screaming rabbits. That’s not my word, that’s the word from the petition. I’m really sensitive to violence so things like that trouble me more than I care to admit. I can’t help looking over at Dakota. And though right now (she’s laying on my bed looking over at me with a bored expression) it’s hard to imagine her in any peril- she wasn’t always so comfy. I would adopt every stray dog if I could.
Back to the petitions. I want to sign. I don’t want rabbits hurt. I was in 4-H (really) and my first pets were rabbits. I love animals. Do these petitions work? The truth is, any change happens with work. You can change or be comfortable- but you can’t have both. Petitions that have a passionate and stirring campaign in conjunction with a petition have a much better shot that trying to rally the tea sipping group of people who want to do good with an index finger.
There are days that the notion of Ahmisa (act of non-violence) is harder on some days than others. And I can’t help but get to thinking.
So what does any of this have to do with eggs?
I’ve started eating them again. I’ve also had fish. Eating a vegan diet wasn’t a moral decision, but…. I don’t really know why there’s a but, but there it is. That’s not true, I feel guilty. There, I’ve said it. I feel guilty for eating eggs (and fish- less about the fish which also comes with its own layer of judgment- but I gotta pick my battles)
My diet choices came mostly out of health reasons and let’s be real a teeny, weeny an enormous sense of vanity. At first, I looked a lot better when I changed my diet. And then, I couldn’t help but notice I felt so much better.
I need you to understand something- this is in NO way me having some moment about animal rights (Thou doth protest too much, you wonder? Me too. Whatever.) There’s more of a gross-out element that some shaky moral high ground (because I do believe that many fringe groups are on very shaky moral high ground). Fir example, for a long time I couldn’t roast a whole chicken because cleaning it freaked me out. People laugh at dancing raw headless chickens but I find the whole notion incredibly disturbing. I think the chicken crossed the rode because it saw some stand-up comics coming.
Again, I digress. It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged from my icky place.
Ahisma. Eggs. Petitions. Yes, that’s where we are.
I wear leather shoes. My dog eats no grain dog food (her Age Delay Fresh moisturizer).
But I can’t help but be aware of some of my choices. Once my eyes have been opened to something, it’s hard for me to close them again. This may be a due to quitting smoking- when you are aware that you have an ability to lose control, there’s a heightened level of self-awareness as a course of survival.
Anyway, I don’t have any answers just more questions- which makes me feel itchy and annoyed. I like having answers. I’m a fan of the neat bow. Fortunately, I also have yoga so it’s all a little more bearable.
Namaste y’all.
