B.A.L.L.S.: Roadkill, anyone?
I was on my bike last Friday, passing
through the parking lot of that mall on
Oxford and Highbury. You know the one:
where it seems that if you buy a full load of
groceries you get a free shopping cart to take
them home in. Wheel-flipping shopping
carts squeaking their way down Mornington
Avenue, pushed by flustered puffy eyed middle-
aged women wearing brown polyester
pants and tight blue t-shirts with a picture of
Dolly Parton accentuating so many rolls of
fat that they sweat mayonnaise, hurrying
home to watch another episode of Judge
Judy. "Oh dear," they say to themselves, "I
am out of mayonnaise and Diet Coke, better
grab the shopping cart and head up to the
mall."
So I was at that mall when I saw two students from John Paul II High School leaving Burger King. Hanging out in the parking lot between them and myself were a couple of seagulls picking away at the remnants of someone's daily King meal deal. The one guy takes his half-full cup of pop and chucks it as hard as he could at the seagull. He missed. I couldn't control myself. I yelled, "What the f%^& are you doing?" His expression went from looking like that guy from 300 as he kicked a Persian down a well to one that probably looked quite similar to the face of the first guy in history to try an enema: "Hey, what will this do, I wonder?"
This malicious act reminded me of an incident I witnessed last summer, I saw a smirking teenaged motorist swerve to hit a squirrel. He missed. That moment bothered me - I wonder if it bothers him?
There was a report put out in 2007 entitled, Incidence of Intentional Vehicle-Reptile Collisions based out of Long Point, Ontario. This study attempted to create a controlled observable situation where motorists were faced with a decision regarding wildlife on the road. Artificial snakes and turtles were placed in the centre of a two-lane highway. Motorists would ignore the snakes and turtles, stop and rescue the animal or swerve out of their lane to hit them. The study concluded that out of 1,000 vehicles, 53 motorists swerved to hit the snake or turtle. Out of that, 50 were males and three were female. That translates to about a 5.3 percent asshole rate.
Let's put that figure into perspective; five out of 100 people purposely swerved to kill an animal. The population of London Ontario is 350,000. According to this study, 17,500 people in London would go out of their way to kill a harmless animal. Broaden that: the current population of the Earth is 6,697,254,041, that is 334,862,703 people that walk this earth that have the collective compassion of that boy in the parking lot.
The report also listed three per cent of drivers actually attempted to rescue these animals. That's cool, but it seems that the extremes are out of balance. I wonder if I would stop to help a snake? They are ugly. I mean, you wouldn't boil a lobster if it looked like a cat.
My Take
Sometimes it is inevitable that an animal is hit, and most of us would feel a wave of sorrow at taking the life of an animal. I tend to believe even those that swerve to hit a defenseless animal grow to regret this. In the end, when we lie on our deathbeds and reflect, we may find that our conscience keeps us more awake than mayonnaise and Diet Coke.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
So I was at that mall when I saw two students from John Paul II High School leaving Burger King. Hanging out in the parking lot between them and myself were a couple of seagulls picking away at the remnants of someone's daily King meal deal. The one guy takes his half-full cup of pop and chucks it as hard as he could at the seagull. He missed. I couldn't control myself. I yelled, "What the f%^& are you doing?" His expression went from looking like that guy from 300 as he kicked a Persian down a well to one that probably looked quite similar to the face of the first guy in history to try an enema: "Hey, what will this do, I wonder?"
This malicious act reminded me of an incident I witnessed last summer, I saw a smirking teenaged motorist swerve to hit a squirrel. He missed. That moment bothered me - I wonder if it bothers him?
There was a report put out in 2007 entitled, Incidence of Intentional Vehicle-Reptile Collisions based out of Long Point, Ontario. This study attempted to create a controlled observable situation where motorists were faced with a decision regarding wildlife on the road. Artificial snakes and turtles were placed in the centre of a two-lane highway. Motorists would ignore the snakes and turtles, stop and rescue the animal or swerve out of their lane to hit them. The study concluded that out of 1,000 vehicles, 53 motorists swerved to hit the snake or turtle. Out of that, 50 were males and three were female. That translates to about a 5.3 percent asshole rate.
Let's put that figure into perspective; five out of 100 people purposely swerved to kill an animal. The population of London Ontario is 350,000. According to this study, 17,500 people in London would go out of their way to kill a harmless animal. Broaden that: the current population of the Earth is 6,697,254,041, that is 334,862,703 people that walk this earth that have the collective compassion of that boy in the parking lot.
The report also listed three per cent of drivers actually attempted to rescue these animals. That's cool, but it seems that the extremes are out of balance. I wonder if I would stop to help a snake? They are ugly. I mean, you wouldn't boil a lobster if it looked like a cat.
My Take
Sometimes it is inevitable that an animal is hit, and most of us would feel a wave of sorrow at taking the life of an animal. I tend to believe even those that swerve to hit a defenseless animal grow to regret this. In the end, when we lie on our deathbeds and reflect, we may find that our conscience keeps us more awake than mayonnaise and Diet Coke.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
