Saturday, April 2, 2011

Bell Curves and Normalcy

Bell Curves:  Is that how normalcy is defined and is being normal all it is cracked up to be.  Now with Sasha's cancer I am confronted again and again with the fact that my world view is vastly different from the majority and in fact even than most minority views.  There are, of course, other vegetarians and vegans.  There are lots of animal rights activists.  And there are plenty of folks, even if they aren't in the majority, who hold all life sacred.


But I don't know of any others, and I'm sure I just haven't found them because I can't be the only one, who would say that humans have no more (nor less) right to consideration than any other species, that the lowly slug (not sure why I pick on them except that I personally love slugs and snails and I just read a book about snails) has just as much right to life and consideration as I do.  As a result, I think that Sasha's cancer should be treated just the same way I would treat my own should I develop it.  I expect that doctors would react to her as they would react to me, answering concerns, etc.


However, that isn't how the world operates.  No matter how sympathetic and wonderful vets may be, the system is set up so that there aren't emergency pagers for a particular vet, but rather for a clinic, which is lovely, but not what Sasha and I both need.  Pets are treated differently from people.  Humans are considered to be more important than or better than other species.  If I am sick I can call my doctor's office and get a message to her one way or another depending on whether it is during office hours or not, and that message will get to her in a timely fashion even when she is on vacation.  But with Sasha, the clinic would do no more than leave Sasha's vet a message and I still haven't gotten a call back.  Sasha, thankfully, is not so wobbly today and moving well although I have yet to see her eat, which isn't to say that she hasn't, just that I haven't seen her eat, but the fact is I called and was told flatly that Dr. Nell wasn't in yesterday so I'd either have to wait or deal with someone else.


I don't know.  I just know that I don't think humans have any more right to live on this planet than any other species and in fact, given the way humans in general are treating Mother Gaia, I'd say we have much less right to be here.  I would never put myself above another species and I know that makes me odd, but there it is.  I will take my oddness every day of the week, but there are times when I get confronted with how far out of the norm I am that I feel isolated and lonely.  I would like to find more kindred spirits, more who would understand where I'm coming from.  Lacking that, I find solitude a very acceptable alternative.  This weekend I will be by myself with my special lovely family and I won't have to talk with or interact with anyone, so my very strangeness, out of the bell curveness, won't be an issue.  Certainly Chauncey, Poosa, Laoise, Thackeray, and Sasha are happy with who I am and what I believe and that is more than enough for this weekend.  Such are my thoughts for today.

4 comments:

  1. health care for humans is becoming less personal also. there is a move now toward hospitalists -- doctors who work on in the hospitals and they are associated with clinics. so if i go to the hospital, i won't have my regular doc, but will have the hospitalist whom i have never met.

    this system is more efficient, with the specialization in roles for outpatient and inpatient. patients tend to not like it though.

    your place on the edge of the bell curve is fine and good!

    for most of the history of this world there was no choice but to suffer and die for a creature like Sasha. She lives in a good time with someone who cares for her, which is more than most creatures can say. you are good to your animals.

    (FYI - we are our travel plans and flying directly to Vancouver ... so we will not be able to drive through your city and meet you. maybe another time ...)

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  2. Thanks, Tammy, and I know you are right and I know I'm doing all I can for Sasha. I also know I'm lucky to have my doctor, who is a naturopath and who's middle name is caring! Efficiency will kill us all one day if bureaucracy doesn't do it first. Thanks for letting me know about your plans and maybe another time you can visit the Seattle area--lots of good stuff here, but then that is at least as true if not more so about Vancouver! Thanks again for your support!

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  3. I feel exactly the same way. And, it is a constant source of frustration to encounter the species supreme-ist mind set that is pretty much everywhere. I don't think humans have any more right or are in any way of more value than any other living being. Moreover, I agree that we are the worst inhabitants on the planet.

    I hope Sasha is feeling better. It always seems like animal emergencies happen at the weekend at our house, and completely understand the frustration in not being able to contact your usual vet.

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  4. Thanks, Rose, and I like your term species supreme-ist mind set! And yes, just like kids (and maybe us as well), pets do tend to pick the weekends! Thanks as always for stopping by. Enjoy the fact that it isn't raining at the moment!

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