You Decide

Most birds are amazing parents.

There are exceptions of course, such as the cowbird that sneaks in and lays her eggs in other birds nest so that they can raise them. In her defense this was a survival technique developed when cowbirds followed the buffalo herds and couldn’t sit on a nest long enough to raise their babies without them starving to death. So, technically, she is exhibiting good parenting behavior by assuring her chicks survival.

The male hummingbird is an absentee dad, but mom more than makes up for his boorish behavior.

But, like I said, most birds are dedicated caregivers, working day and night against great odds, until their little family can make it on their own. A couple years ago, one such dedicated parent made the local paper by defending his nest in downtown Peoria.

It seems that a pair of red-wings raised a family in a tree on Hamilton by the Caterpillar Inc. headquarters building. As the chicks fledged, dad became very protective, warning humans away from his family with loud calls and aggressive territorial protection behavior. For the people who ignored his warnings, he reinforced his position with a whack or two on their head.

Signs were erected warning people about the situation, and for the most part, downtown walkers were taking it in stride. After all, it’s a temporary situation.
However, one man felt the need to say to the reporter, “If I had my gun, I’d shoot it.”

How special.

Of course, he couldn’t legally shoot the bird on so many levels. It’s illegal to discharge a firearm in the city limits, carry a concealed weapon, or shoot a Migratory Bird protected by the US Migratory Bird Act, and I’m grateful for that.

Many folks think that the government shouldn’t interfere in our lives by enacting environmental, endangered species, or gun regulations. They think that people, or corporations, can be trusted to do the right thing. When I hear that, I wonder if a living, functioning, human could possibly be that naïve, and if they’ve lived under a rock all their lives.

Does anyone really think that a corporation, given a chance, would hesitate to drain a wetland, and fill it in, to build a plant or another ubiquitous strip mall? Would industry hold up their plans to make more profits for fear of causing the extinction of some critter on the endangered species list? Would people allowed to carry concealed weapons use them only for self defense?

“If I had my gun, I’d shoot it.”

You decide.

Waste Not, Want Not

Recently, my cousin received an award from a charitable organization, and I attended the banquet. The event was beautifully done, and the food was surprisingly good.

During the salad course, I noticed several people at my table letting their lovely bowls of greens sit untouched. The person next to me said, “There are funny things in there I don’t recognize, I’m not eating it.” Another said, “I don’t like purple stuff in my salad.” Others didn’t care for the dressing choices.

So, the people bussing the table collected piles of untouched produce and dumped it in the garbage pans.

The main course presentation was lovely, with mounds of wild and brown rice, and spinach-stuffed chicken arranged on china, with paprika sprinkled around the rim.
Again, my fellow diners let most of the food go untouched. Only two people at my table ate the delightful rice, which was well seasoned and perfectly cooked. I heard, “I don’t do rice,” “There are specks in it,” and “Yuck.”

Apparently, my table wasn’t the only one with a bunch of picky eaters. As the employees collected the plates, I was appalled to see the mounds of rice piled on the carts ready to fill the trash bins.

All I could think about was the news reports of food shortages around the world, and mass starvation. In some villages, children live on a cup of rice a day. There were over three hundred people at that banquet, most of whom didn’t eat their rice. The food in that garbage pile could have fed a third world community for a week.

I don’t know the solution to that kind of revolting waste. Maybe there could be a way for people who won’t eat certain things not to get them on their plate. Or, maybe banquets could serve family style, and if you don’t want something, you wouldn’t have to take it.

If people can afford to be so picky, then maybe it’s proof that as Americans we are used to excesses, and it’s no wonder many people around the world hate us.

In the United States, we not only produce an abundance of food, we waste an enormous amount of it. Americans toss out at least $75 billion in food each year, according to an extensive study.

At home, the average American family throws away 14 percent of their food.

I know I feel guilty about that every day. My husband and I throw away more things than we should, such as bags of lettuce that go to waste before we eat them. I’m also often sucked into buying things on sale we don’t need, and letting them go to waste.

I don’t know the answer, except to try to be more cognizant of our wasteful nature. As the old proverb says, ‘Waste not, want not.”