Hey Substackers! In today’s Park Rant I ramble about our families recent trip to the Zoo, and the moral quandary such an activity is for me personally! Yall have a great day now! ‘Corey
I think this is probably a very junior high science explanation -- but I think you might be right Corey, that forgetting about tornadors is similar to childbirth. Oxytocin is the love hormone, which is part of the birth process -- bonding is important to survival, and we tend to excuse the ones we love/wear rose-tinted glasses.
The relief of surviving a tornado warning (or even an actual tornado) would send out adrenaline, dopamine, and I assume oxytocin too because suddenly we feel love so much stronger for a little while. Add in #ADHD #Timeblind #ObjectPersistence
My one and only zoo experience was, in 1972. Well some friends of mine and I went to the Washington Zoo took a bunch of LSD, what a bizarre experience it was beautiful yet haunting lol✌️💙😎
Next time you're out here in the Bay Area, you HAVE to go to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! The jellyfish exhibit is the best in the nation. You'll need TWO edibles!
So when I was little, like 3, my mom and aunts took me to the zoo for the first time and apparently, I saw a chimpanzee that reminded me of my grandpa, so I started pointing at him and yelling “Mama! That monkey looks just like PawPaw! That monkey looks just like PawPaw!” They ignored me due to embarrassment of everyone staring, but I kept getting louder and more insistent until they finally shushed me quiet. Later, when recounting the story to the family back at home, they admitted that the monkey, indeed, looked just like PawPaw. 🐒🙈🙉🙊
The wild animals in captivity thing is tough. Ideally, no animal would be held simply for the amusement of humans. The Orca/Shamu/Sea World thing and big cats and other large mammals at the zoo just make my insides feel squishy and uncomfortable. I want to free them all! Yet any time I have the chance to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium, I do not hesitate. Humans are good and awful.
I don’t buy Chick-fil-A or shop at Hobby Lobby and try to use Amazon and Wal-Mart as little as possible, but at the end of the day, I live on the grid and giving money to shitty people in exchange for goods and services is unavoidable at this stage of capitalism.
Sometimes I gauge my goodness by thinking about what the world would be like if everyone was just like me. If everyone had the same spending/eating/traveling/living etc. habits as me, would the world be a better or worse place? The honest answer to that question keeps me in check most of the time. Current billionaires like Bezos and Oprah would not be billionaires anymore, but the people who own Del Taco and my local Kao Man Ghai place would be zillionaires!
And we all know you are not a shitty person! Quite the opposite. ❤️
Another quandry to consider regarding buying from Amazon vs your local mom and pop store (provided there is one and they aren't a front for the local drug lord) - will they have the squeaky teething ring your son loves?
Granted, if you buy it there to begin with, you stand a chance, but there's a better than even chance you won't see the same one twice. Mom and pop have to bring in new stuff all the time just to keep their business alive.
That's one advantage Amazon and Walmart have - they buy in bulk so you may be able to find the same thing when you go looking for it. Ah, the joys of modern consumerism - getting locked into the "need" for certain things you or your kids just "can't live without".
I absolutely do not believe that you’re not a good person, Corey. In almost everything you write, rant, and create allows us to see, hear, and feel the compassion which you exude. It’s one of the things I admire most about you, that you are not afraid to let that compassion show.
First - Hope you and yours are doing good with these storms moving through. Us up here in West Liberty KY did ok with the first round earlier. It's 7:23 pm now and waiting to see what next round brings. We got devastated in 2012 by a tornado, so everyone is a little on edge. Second - I'd never heard the phrase "There is no ethical consumption under capitalism". I like that. And finally, I'm with you and Marjorie. I'm majorly conflicted with zoos. And with that, I bid you adieu sir. Keep up the great work!
I also have conflicted feelings about zoos. (A) Yes, it's jail for animals; but (B) where the hell else am I going to see a wildebeest? (Years ago, I sent my true love a hand-drawn valentine -- front cover, the creature, inside caption "Wildebeest my valentine?")
Side note: some of the local Amish get hard for exotic beasts. I once typed an ad for an Amishman who was selling a horse that included a particularly interesting caveat -- "shies at bicycles and camels." Camels? I thought. CAMELS? What, has the nation of Dubai purchased Lancaster County as a birthday bauble for the spoiled son of an oil gazillionaire? (It could happen.) Then I recalled that I had once seen a field that included zebras and camels, along with the mandatory Clydesdales. (sigh of temporary relief.)
Another time: I was admiring a flower garden in front of a small Amish farmhouse... I jumped when the garden got up and walked away. I had been looking at the tail of a peacock who had been resting with his tailfeathers spread on the ground.
(I wouldn't mind owning a peacock or a donkey -- best little old security alarms ever.)
May your experience with tornadoes be confined to annual viewings of "The Wizard of Oz." (I was once nearly caught in one -- Aside from the abject terror, the most infuriating part of the whole experience was having to listen to my mother say again and again -- in tone that suggested admiration -- "My, my, ISN'T this SOMEthing???"
I managed to keep myself from screaming "YOU IDIOT, THIS IS A TORNADO!!!"
Favorite zoo memory -- standing outside the wolf den and seeing no wolves, until the assistant zookeeper (a young woman) came out with wolf chow and starting crooning baby talk "Hi babies, mommy has din-din!" and suddenly four or five full grown wolves came tumbling out of the den and were wiggling and rolling around like puppies, licking her hands, and begging for food.
I think this is probably a very junior high science explanation -- but I think you might be right Corey, that forgetting about tornadors is similar to childbirth. Oxytocin is the love hormone, which is part of the birth process -- bonding is important to survival, and we tend to excuse the ones we love/wear rose-tinted glasses.
The relief of surviving a tornado warning (or even an actual tornado) would send out adrenaline, dopamine, and I assume oxytocin too because suddenly we feel love so much stronger for a little while. Add in #ADHD #Timeblind #ObjectPersistence
My one and only zoo experience was, in 1972. Well some friends of mine and I went to the Washington Zoo took a bunch of LSD, what a bizarre experience it was beautiful yet haunting lol✌️💙😎
Next time you're out here in the Bay Area, you HAVE to go to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium! The jellyfish exhibit is the best in the nation. You'll need TWO edibles!
So when I was little, like 3, my mom and aunts took me to the zoo for the first time and apparently, I saw a chimpanzee that reminded me of my grandpa, so I started pointing at him and yelling “Mama! That monkey looks just like PawPaw! That monkey looks just like PawPaw!” They ignored me due to embarrassment of everyone staring, but I kept getting louder and more insistent until they finally shushed me quiet. Later, when recounting the story to the family back at home, they admitted that the monkey, indeed, looked just like PawPaw. 🐒🙈🙉🙊
The wild animals in captivity thing is tough. Ideally, no animal would be held simply for the amusement of humans. The Orca/Shamu/Sea World thing and big cats and other large mammals at the zoo just make my insides feel squishy and uncomfortable. I want to free them all! Yet any time I have the chance to go to Monterey Bay Aquarium, I do not hesitate. Humans are good and awful.
I don’t buy Chick-fil-A or shop at Hobby Lobby and try to use Amazon and Wal-Mart as little as possible, but at the end of the day, I live on the grid and giving money to shitty people in exchange for goods and services is unavoidable at this stage of capitalism.
Sometimes I gauge my goodness by thinking about what the world would be like if everyone was just like me. If everyone had the same spending/eating/traveling/living etc. habits as me, would the world be a better or worse place? The honest answer to that question keeps me in check most of the time. Current billionaires like Bezos and Oprah would not be billionaires anymore, but the people who own Del Taco and my local Kao Man Ghai place would be zillionaires!
And we all know you are not a shitty person! Quite the opposite. ❤️
Another quandry to consider regarding buying from Amazon vs your local mom and pop store (provided there is one and they aren't a front for the local drug lord) - will they have the squeaky teething ring your son loves?
Granted, if you buy it there to begin with, you stand a chance, but there's a better than even chance you won't see the same one twice. Mom and pop have to bring in new stuff all the time just to keep their business alive.
That's one advantage Amazon and Walmart have - they buy in bulk so you may be able to find the same thing when you go looking for it. Ah, the joys of modern consumerism - getting locked into the "need" for certain things you or your kids just "can't live without".
I absolutely do not believe that you’re not a good person, Corey. In almost everything you write, rant, and create allows us to see, hear, and feel the compassion which you exude. It’s one of the things I admire most about you, that you are not afraid to let that compassion show.
I like the Chattanooga aquarium! I'm not overly fond of zoos. Especially seeing the big cats pacing around
Stay safe in Georgia! It's snowing here in Wisconsin
First - Hope you and yours are doing good with these storms moving through. Us up here in West Liberty KY did ok with the first round earlier. It's 7:23 pm now and waiting to see what next round brings. We got devastated in 2012 by a tornado, so everyone is a little on edge. Second - I'd never heard the phrase "There is no ethical consumption under capitalism". I like that. And finally, I'm with you and Marjorie. I'm majorly conflicted with zoos. And with that, I bid you adieu sir. Keep up the great work!
I also have conflicted feelings about zoos. (A) Yes, it's jail for animals; but (B) where the hell else am I going to see a wildebeest? (Years ago, I sent my true love a hand-drawn valentine -- front cover, the creature, inside caption "Wildebeest my valentine?")
Side note: some of the local Amish get hard for exotic beasts. I once typed an ad for an Amishman who was selling a horse that included a particularly interesting caveat -- "shies at bicycles and camels." Camels? I thought. CAMELS? What, has the nation of Dubai purchased Lancaster County as a birthday bauble for the spoiled son of an oil gazillionaire? (It could happen.) Then I recalled that I had once seen a field that included zebras and camels, along with the mandatory Clydesdales. (sigh of temporary relief.)
Another time: I was admiring a flower garden in front of a small Amish farmhouse... I jumped when the garden got up and walked away. I had been looking at the tail of a peacock who had been resting with his tailfeathers spread on the ground.
(I wouldn't mind owning a peacock or a donkey -- best little old security alarms ever.)
May your experience with tornadoes be confined to annual viewings of "The Wizard of Oz." (I was once nearly caught in one -- Aside from the abject terror, the most infuriating part of the whole experience was having to listen to my mother say again and again -- in tone that suggested admiration -- "My, my, ISN'T this SOMEthing???"
I managed to keep myself from screaming "YOU IDIOT, THIS IS A TORNADO!!!"
Favorite zoo memory -- standing outside the wolf den and seeing no wolves, until the assistant zookeeper (a young woman) came out with wolf chow and starting crooning baby talk "Hi babies, mommy has din-din!" and suddenly four or five full grown wolves came tumbling out of the den and were wiggling and rolling around like puppies, licking her hands, and begging for food.