Dogs, pigs and bulls.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Posting about my progress with revision on the upcoming Promos (5 more days to D-Day) isn't very fun to talk about. Let's talk about the
dog.
The dog has to go. I remember that instance when I was talking to Mark over the phone and the dog kept whining and barking, which I found out was because my brother put him in the shower stall and kept it there while out. I was reluctant to interfere with my brother's things, (which he also contended was not just a 'thing'.) and told me that my morals should hardly be superseded by my feelings towards non-intervention. The last thing I wanted to do was to let the dog out and have my brother scold me for being so kaypoh, but Mark said "to hell with him" and just do the morally right thing. So I did. But that was a small case.
Now the game is being played by my parents and brother. For complicated reasons, the dog really isn't suited to roam around this new place. Also, my parents don't want it out his room (as long as it is
still here) because they know that he (my brother) will be out, and the waste from an untrained dog is going to be obligingly cleared by anyone but him. You can't fault them there, my brother has the worst track record for keeping the house clean in all places but his own. And he is out so often that, chances are, if the dog does something, one of us has to pick up after it. Something that was forced upon us, we will very likely have to maintain.
So the problem is that my parents don't want it out of his room, which was where he first put it the very day he got it. But that obviously isn't the humane thing to do, is it? A dog needs to roam and explore while it's still a puppy, familiarise itself with humans so it can interact with stangers properly, and also be potty trained. Holing it up in the small room is just not sensible. But that is not to say my parents are morally unsound. The fact is, my dad himself loves dogs, or so he has said for many years, but just can't spare the time to rear one. His argument is, a pet such as a dog should be a consensual agreement among all family members.
Would you like it if you, as a boss, had some employee come to you and tell you, "Hey, I got this new investment opportunity that I am putting the firm's funds into. It's going to do well, but I've got quite some work on my hands already. So if you want to see it mature, take care of it." Why, as a provider (this time of lodging, food and utilities for nothing in exchange) would anyone mind having something forced down their throat, and then have to self-administer the medicine for it?
Still, it is very painful to walk across his room, and on the rare occasions that he leaves his door open, to see the dog either furiously trying to get free of the markshift playpen, or whining through the grills. So I told my mom about Mark saying morals should come before their impasse with my brother. Then she added a valid point. If at this point my parents accede to the presence of the dog, even after my brother didn't even bother to try and butter them up for the new family member, then surely there will be no end to the limits he will test. He has done so with other instances that I shan't elaborate upon. Besides. If he actually has the audacity (and, mind you, stupidity) to argue vehemently over the forced introduction of the dog instead of trying to placate my parents, clearly, any agreement is not worth looking into.
On another note, I read some interesting articles in the news as well as courtesy of my dad recently. Whenever I study much more, the relative enjoyability of everyday events, such as reading the newspapers, becomes a form of mental escape. So I usually read more news in the weeks leading up to the exams. If you're bored or saturated like me, then I suggest you read the news about Palin (pigs, anyone?) or the US financial crisis. While it may sound like a futile attempt to sound learned, it really isn't. No, seriously. Both of them are actually quite interesting news that will intrigue a person. I was going to elaborate some bit of it here, but I don't think I have enough time. Besides, it's a long enough post as it is.
posted by joseph at 10:16 PM