Friday, January 12, 2007

My Environmentally Conscientious Son

Daniel is almost 11  (something like 6 weeks until his birthday).  He suggested at the end of last year that we become vegetarians for at lest two days out of every week.  This was prompted by seeing the cows and pigs at the state fair that had been purchased by Harris Teeter and Jimmy Dean, obviously headed for the slaughterhouse.  Then he saw a news story about how much the meat industry contributes to greenhouse gases and water pollution.  There's nothing like your firstborn to lay a little guilt on you.  He's been pretty good about reminding me to not eat meat, though he's not always forgiving.  I mean, I'd much rather eat a roast beef sandwich than grilled cheese or have some sausage on my pizza to go along with my cheese.  He's like Jiminy Cricket reminding me about pollution and how much land it takes to feed a cow.

Then today I got a new lecture.  We were on our way out, got no farther than the first corner from the house, when I realized I had forgotten something at home.  I turned to drive around the block, planning to just slip back into the driveway.  "Mom, just pull over and run back to the house," he tells me.  "Do you know how much gas you're wasting and pollution you're putting into the air?"  For goodness sake!  I was just driving around the block, and the blocks in this little Podunk town aren't very big.

I called my mom tonight to tell her about it.  She just chuckles, then reminds me about the lectures I gave her concerning paper plates and old growth forests, aerosol cans and the ozone layer.  Oh, yeah.  I guess it's time for my paybacks.


It seems I'm raising another tree-hugging dirt-worshiper........YES!

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