Five Minute Freewrite: Squash
Find the prompt here!
Squash. I've been thinking, a little bit (it doesn't pay to dwell too long on these types of thoughts, not if one doesn't want to change their behavior at all), about how easy I find it to squash ants. When I see an ant in our bathroom or crawling on my arm, I simply squash it under one finger. These are little ants, that squash very easily under one finger. If they were bigger, made more of a mess, required more than one finger, or made any kind of cracking sound as they were squashed, I would never be able to do it. If there were just one large ant, I would probably capture it under a glass like I would with a spider, and take it outside. If there were a whole mess of large ants, I would use water or poison or something to kill them. But I would kill them. And that's the thing I've been thinking about. When do I find it okay to kill another living creature, when not? I'm a vegetarian. I was vegan for four years because I knew that dairy cows weren't really treated well, either, so if I was opposed to cruelty to animals, I must follow that up logically and be vegan. But then I gave myself an out, while traveling in Europe, and I never went back. I'm still opposed to cruelty to animals, and I still believe that factory farms do not treat animals well, but I just don't think about it. Because it doesn't pay to dwell too long on these types of thoughts. But I do entertain them occasionally, and wonder about myself.
Yes, interesting to consider what we will kill and what we will not kill. I only ate for a time what I felt I dared kill myself if I had to--this included, fish and chicken, but not pigs or cows! And, even then, I'd rather kill someone else's chickens and not Gurty or Grace, our own backyard girls.
I think that is a good policy - eat what you (or your husband in my case) can kill. Still can't get myself to do the deed. I am good with everything right after - but not the actually cut. I am okay with dispatching fish but don't like to eat them too much...
it's good
If you buy organic milk and cheese - it is a bit better. Or Irish cheeses and butter - their laws around animal husbandry are way more animal-friendly than ours...