September 12, 2014 - 16:56
Muddy Prints
In a room of 20 she sat semi growling and barking behind this metal cage. Her paws swept under attempting to pat my feet. She'd pounce against the fence almost within range of my eyes. But as my gaze drew towards her moist nose and glassy brown eyes, I noticed a yellow sign in the corner. A list of characteristics describing her aggressive manners and inability to fully be trusted among other dogs or people. So here I was at the Houston ASPCA staring at this beautiful German Shepherd Lab mix staring back at me. I didn't know whether to give her a chance or maybe it was the other way around, her giving me a chance to show her another life besides that cage. I couldn't blame her for growling and being upset. That seems to be a pretty reasonable reaction to being locked up all day. The volunteer recommended another set of puppies around the corner, but there was this pause, this silence. Not the kind of moment from the "Arms of an Angel" commercial but the kind of moment that made me remember when I first found a home. Her eyes spoke a language I could not yet grasp but really wanted to understand, so I signed a few forms and out we pranced. Hyperness and all she stopped growling and instead began to curl up next to me the entire car ride home. I kept wondering if the defensiveness she displayed earlier was her way of communicating in excitement or fear of trusting me as well. But she didn't have to be human in order for me to trust her.
Similar to “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”, the caged child was prevented from the opportunity to live its life to its full potential. Being treated as a “destructive” source, it was locked away for all to see but never to come in full contact with. Reading about this situation made me reconsider what would’ve happened if I had never taken the risk to unlock that cage, to allow this dog freedom.
Some may argue that walking away and living an ignorant life is what allows one to carry on happily and although the terms in the case of the city of Omelas was that happiness truly depended on the suffering of the child, nowhere was it mentioned that someone put that theory to the test. Before I adopted my dog, there was a warning sign describing all of the ill traits to her, but it never mentioned the positive qualities she possessed. But how is one supposed to know the greatness someone can bring if a risk is never taken? You don’t.
As time passes, people often refuse multiple opportunities for greatness and destruction. But what’s the point of living when someone only lives life safely? By limiting our actions we refuse ourselves the right to curiosity, without which, room for development is denied. Living a life in fear of what could be robs humanity of the truth that lies beneath. Risks are what allows humanity to progress.
Ursula Le Guin writes that, “Happiness is based on a just discrimination of what is necessary, what is neither necessary nor destructive, and what is destructive.” But it is by exploration and trial and error in which we find out what we consider our happiness to truly be. So unlike the citizens of Omelas and the ones who walked away, I took the risk. Not everyone will agree with your actions in fact it’s pretty common for people to disagree when things are not considered a social norm, yet some of the most life changing leaders took the very risk themselves. Imagine if our world was still stuck in the 1600s.
Her names Missy, a black coat German Shepherd Lab mix. She is not aggressive or anti-social. She may be socially selective but all warnings that came with her adoption are overall false. So if I would’ve listened to one person’s opinion, a small piece of paper that can be easily altered or recycled, my nephews would have never learned how to play fetch at an early age, the foot of my bed would’ve been cold at night, and she might’ve never made it past that cage. I am grateful for the relationship that developed between her and my family. There’s something about animal companions that tug at these emotional stings of ours. It’s not just the cuteness, it’s a different type of relationship that’s born. So while it is easy avoid the unknown, the world needs to remember that they themselves were the unknown until they were brought into this world. Now that we are here though we have the chance to leave our mark for the next generation. Missy did, they were just muddy paw prints and a few wet kisses on my heart.
Work Cited
K., Le Guin Ursula. "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas." The Wind's Twelve Quarters: Short Stories. New York: Harper & Row, 1975. N. pag. Print.