Yesterday morning I took my .22 rimfire out to some local farmland where I have permission to shoot small game. I had a good day and brought back four pigeons and five rabbits. In the early evening next door's kids were playing in their garden while I was skinning and plucking what I'd shot. My neighbour's boundry is a flimsey trellis with vines woven through the woodwook. On the other side the children (all aged around 8-10) had noticed what I was doing and took an interest; though showed no sign of revulsion. They asked me if what I was skinning was real. At this point I realised this was an opportunity to impart valuable a lesson upon my young audience. I confirmed what I was handling was real and that I'd shot them. I followed that by asking them if they knew where the meat they ate came from. They were unsure. I informed them it most likely came from a farm via an abbatoir, and I didn't pull any punches. I told them how the meat they saw on their table was killed and processed. I also showed them the organs I'd removed from the carcasses. I then showed them the gun and how it works. They were enthralled. Towards the end of my ad-hoc lecture their childminder called them away. After they'd gone inside she approached the fence and informed me that it's irresponsible to expose children to the stark reality of how meat ends-up on their table. I told her she was being absurd and it was genuinely irresponsible to shield children from the facts, however grissly.
I kind of expected a reaction from our neighbours over what had transpired and I was proven right. At around 8 o'clock both parents knocked on our door. To cut a long story short they weren't overly objective to what their children had been told and seen, but said they'd prefer it if I'd send their curious kids away in future.
Now, I realised what I'd done would provoke a reaction of sorts, and I affirmed that I believed what their kids had seen was a positive experience. To their credit they were polite, but replied with equal conviction that they believed it was innapropriate, although by then I was growing irritable at their naivity. I reinforced my position by reminding them I was at liberty to do whatever I pleased within my own property as long as it's within the law: it isn't illegal to eviscerate a dead animal. We parted on civil terms. But this whole episode got me thinking over whether or not my neighnours' mentality presides among the majority: meat comes from a little plastic tray wrapped in polythene. And should we allow that way of thinking/naivity to continue by 'protecting' them from the ugly facts/reality. I say that it should be impressed upon them from infancy how the meat they enjoy arrives on their table. What about you?
I kind of expected a reaction from our neighbours over what had transpired and I was proven right. At around 8 o'clock both parents knocked on our door. To cut a long story short they weren't overly objective to what their children had been told and seen, but said they'd prefer it if I'd send their curious kids away in future.
Now, I realised what I'd done would provoke a reaction of sorts, and I affirmed that I believed what their kids had seen was a positive experience. To their credit they were polite, but replied with equal conviction that they believed it was innapropriate, although by then I was growing irritable at their naivity. I reinforced my position by reminding them I was at liberty to do whatever I pleased within my own property as long as it's within the law: it isn't illegal to eviscerate a dead animal. We parted on civil terms. But this whole episode got me thinking over whether or not my neighnours' mentality presides among the majority: meat comes from a little plastic tray wrapped in polythene. And should we allow that way of thinking/naivity to continue by 'protecting' them from the ugly facts/reality. I say that it should be impressed upon them from infancy how the meat they enjoy arrives on their table. What about you?
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