America has lost its collective minds. I shake my head every day at the news, and the things that pass for logic these days.
Latest edition of head-poundingly frustrating thinking/not-thinking: A puppy was placed in an overhead compartment on a plane and died as a result. This is a senseless and obviously very sad event. Did the owner not speak up to the airline personnel when ordered to put her bag overhead instead of under the seat in front of her? Did the airline person realize there was an animal in the bag? Are people so afraid of being thrown off of planes for voicing even the most minor/reasonable objections to orders? Do people not realize that the overhead compartments are airtight? Is this just a gruesome mistake? So many questions, and the result of all of it is a dead pet.
We Americans love our pets to distraction. Anyone who listens to the show knows that I have more than my share of cats, and I love them all dearly. Mr. Helix and I dote on our pets as if they were our children, and we are certainly not alone in that. Check out the multi-millions of dollars we pay for pet supplies, toys, luxuries and basic care, and there is no doubt that we are a country of pet lovers.
A dead puppy is a terrible, heart-string pulling moment, and everyone can relate. The grief of losing a pet is overwhelming. Almost like losing a child –but certainly not the same as losing a child. Certainly not the same as losing 7,000 children.
If you haven’t been under a rock, you have seen the gut-punch photo of the 7,000 pairs of shoes, representing all of the children lost to gun violence in our country since the Sandy Hook slaughter. It is a false equivalency to say that we care more about the one dead puppy than the 7,000 children, I get that. But Congress just fell over each other running to the floor to vote on legislation to make sure that we don’t put any puppies in an overhead compartment, as if this was a danger that was sweeping the nation.
The danger that has been sweeping our nation is gun violence. 7,000 fucking dead children. And yet, we are still arguing over whether the proliferation of guns is a problem that needs to be settled.
Grieve for the poor little dead puppy, absolutely. But get over yourselves and your love of your goddamn guns, and make this country a safer place for our kids, for us all.