Abandonment

I was at the pet store the other day with the kids buying crickets for the bearded dragon (which were left in the car on a 90 degree day and eventually became steamed crickets). While in the store a young woman had a simply adorable miniature pinscher dog that the kids all asked to pet. Blake struck up a conversation with this young woman (after helping her move the crate box she was buying) and the kids found out the woman had adopted the dog from a shelter after it had been left on the side of the road. This adorable pup was 12 weeks old. Not a great way to begin its life.

On the way home from the pet store, the kids had quite the conversation about how terrible it was that someone could be so cruel and mean to just leave a puppy (or any animal) just because they didn’t want it. Of course I had to chime in that it happens all the time and it’s unfortunate because with a little leg work, a few phone calls and some time, a home could have been found for this cute little thing. Or, they could have just taken the pup to a shelter to begin with.

This, of course, made me think about abandonment as a whole. I think we have become a society of abandonment. If something is too difficult or unpleasant or unwanted or unplanned, we just walk away from it, dust our hands off and move on to the next thing.

• Can’t sell the house? Just walk away, quit making payments and live somewhere else. No one will notice just one more foreclosed property and your credit won’t have the black mark forever.

• Don’t like your job? Your boss is a pain? Just don’t show up for work, call it quits, or even worse – just do the least possible amount of work in the worst way. Your co-workers will take up the slack because the boss likes them better anyways.

• Don’t like your husband (or wife)? Well then, just walk away. Oh, and don’t forget to get a great lawyer so you can take everything you can with you when you go.

• Children are a pain, but sex is fun. So, why be responsible and use birth control – or here’s an idea – not have sex – (yeah, guys, it’s your responsibility, too) when you can just get an abortion for that “unwanted pregnancy”. It’s not like there aren’t adoption agencies or people who can’t have children that would love your little darling. Wouldn’t want to ruin your figure or your life for a few months or years.

We seem to have no problem, in this society, with just abandoning anything we find uncomfortable, unnecessary or unwanted. Old people, babies, people with diseases or mental illness are as much garbage to us as our used newspapers or melon rinds; except we don’t even attempt to recycle or find useful purposes for them. Laws, if not deemed socially applicable, are tossed out for one special interest group or another. People find ways to abandon good sense, consideration and morals because it’s not fair or hurts their feelings.

I’m not sure what the solution is to this problem, so I’ll just abandon this post…