I had told a few people about what had happened to the chickens this weekend and I would get "sympathies" with immediate comparisons that were apple to oranges, basically, or the allegation that their demise was somehow my fault because I didn't have them locked up.
Um, excuse me? Apparently they forgot that happy chickens are chickens that are not locked up. If I had wanted eggs from chickens that were not allowed to roam and were instead locked up I would have forgone the chickens and continued to buy eggs from the store.
Would they have said the same thing about "nature" if it had been a dog that killed my chickens? I'm guessing not. It's funny (not in a ha ha way) how people react, given what kind of animal it was (you know, small and cute) and the steps I was taking to ensure the safety of my remaining flock. I think some people have seen a whole new side of me. Some couldn't believe what my plan was. I wanted to tell them "Hello! 14 chickens lost their lives and I'm supposed to just roll over?" The fox came onto *my* territory. That can't keep happening.
However, when I shared with a circle of online friends what had happened, they shared the sorrow and grieved with me. They *got* it. They understood what I was going through and sympathized with me. What they didn't do was somehow turn it around to make me feel like it was somehow my fault. My friends had been there, done that and grieved. They may not have always had chickens, but they had lost animals and let me know that they understood. For that, I'm so grateful to them and the few people that I told, in person, that did the same thing.
Thank you.
No comments:
Post a Comment