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Covert Operations: ~ Service Before Self ~
26 Dec 2002 - Whole Lotta Loving
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I went grocery shopping on Christmas Eve. A little girl, about three or four years old, was riding in the shopping cart next to mine and was talking to someone on the phone, probably a grownup family member.
“Tomorrow is Jesus’ birthday!” chirped the child.
I assume the person on the other line then asked her “What do you do on Jesus’ birthday?”
There was a pause. “We bake him a cake!” exclaimed the child brightly.
I cracked up laughing.
Out of the mouths of babes!
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Bought chocolates, licorice allsorts, honey ham, black pepper bacon, turkey bologna, organic vegetables and fresh apricots and kiwis for Christmas Day lunch.
Chilled out in front of the TV watching Christmas specials on the night of Christmas Eve. Nothing special about that.
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Christmas Day. Woke up, did the housework and fixed myself a turkey bologna sandwich to eat while helping out at the SPCA. Sliced the veggies and prepared the sandwich ingredients for the rest of the family. Gave Mom and Dad five hundred bucks each as a Christmas gift and told them to put it in their holiday fund so that we can go visit New Zealand (and Sezrah!) in March.
Mom gave me old towels and sheets for the SPCA puppery and cattery. Jason and I bolted down about ten Hershey Kisses and Nuggets and Ferrero chocolates each before I went out the door.
The SPCA was a bit quiet when I arrived. Gave the staff cookies, chocolate bars and tins of glacier fruit candy. Handed out carrots to the rabbits and guinea pigs, milk biscuits to the doggies and kibbles to the kitty cats. Spent a little time with each of them, talking to or just cuddling and petting them. Hunted out my friend Marianne, who is not celebrating Christmas this year because of her daddy’s demise. Did our usual stuff – walking and bathing dogs, cleaning out cages, washing the floor and washing food and water bowls.
Many other visitors and volunteers turned up in the afternoon and so our furry friends received a whole lotta loving and plenty of treats.
There was a sad incident, though. Some nasty homeowner came the day before and surrendered four Rottweilers and four Dobermans, all severely undernourished and aggressive, because the owner didn’t feel like keeping them anymore. She didn’t have an ounce of affection for her dogs and said that we may put them to sleep if we can’t re-home them. I think the vets have put them to sleep today because the dogs have become unaccustomed to human contact and are therefore very aggressive and hostile and impossible to re-home. Marianne was so outraged by this that she vowed to curse the dogs’ owner until the day she dies. I told Marianne that no good would come out of this; that she will only give herself unnecessary stress. I assured her that I would check the records and see if there is anything I can do even if the dogs cannot be saved. I found out that the dogs’ owner lives in my neighborhood and claims to be a lawyer. I intend to ask the SPCA to authorize me to write her a polite letter explaining why we would discourage her from keeping pets in future. Perhaps I can persuade our cruelty officer to bring an action against her, fine her and obtain a court order to forbid her from keeping any more pets. That’s the reason why I didn’t think putting the dogs to sleep immediately was a clever move. We have to get sufficient and irrefutable evidence of animal abuse and neglect. We should have taken pictures of those poor doggies, with their luster-less coats and ribs showing through their skin, so thin that they can be mistaken for greyhounds.
There are limitations to what I can do to help, and the very least I can do is to ensure that such a selfish person will not be permitted to keep pets anymore. That’s why I stand firm in my belief that it is some people and not animals that have to be spayed and neutered or put to sleep.
But let’s look at the bright side of life now. People took time off from their holiday activities to visit the SPCA. There is much public awareness of and support for our cause. There is more responsible pet ownership today in my country than five or ten years ago. People, especially youngsters (myself not included! I’m all of 24!) feel that doing voluntary work is a good way of passing the time and making Christmas more meaningful. There is much to be thankful for.
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Christmas night. Did more housework. Dad had repainted the porch and driveway tiles (Yep, you heard me right. Dad’s the only person I know who does that.) while I was away and was so protective over them that you’d think that tiles were as delicate as newborn babes. Jason asked me to help him jack the car up so that he can cover the tires with cloth so as not to take the shine off the tiles and make Dad angry. LOL! That cracked me up.
Had more sandwiches and fruit. Watched the Motown Christmas Special on TV, hurray. Played with Murphy. Went to bed with a sore throat.
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Woke up with inflamed tonsils. What in damnation is wrong with my immune system? I seem to be falling sick so often! I didn’t get sick once during 2001. Not seriously ill anyway. I must go back to not eating meat. It must be all that factory-farmed meat that’s wreaking havoc on my system. Either that or it’s the twenty chunks of chocolate that I ate yesterday.
Now I know why gluttony is one of the seven DEADLY sins. Chocolates will be the death of me.
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Whiskey-Echo-Lima, Out.
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