Posted by Or, NO THE TOOTH FAIRY DOESN’T EXIST! GO GET A DAMN JOB IF YOU WANT MONEY!
A few years ago, I spent the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Adha in Bangladesh in my dad’s boyhood home of Barahipur in the province of Feni. There I witnessed a cow being slaughtered in the old fashion. That is, it was held down while its throat was slit in order to kill it. This method of slaughter allows the blood to drain out of the animal.
I’m not squeamish so this rather bloody sight didn’t trouble me. But I was struck that my little nieces and nephews stood idly by and watched the ceremony. Neither the boys nor the girls flinched while witnessing the cow flail for its life, not even after most of the blood had drained and the cow bayed, its head flopping up and down almost reflexively as the last vestiges of life ebbed away.
I think most kids in the west who don’t grow up on a farm will rarely ever see this sight. Maybe as adults but rarely as a 5-year old. Mommy and Daddy wouldn’t allow such trauma and the very thought of eating a cute little lamb caused Lisa Simpson to become a vegetarian.
It gets me to thinking about the cultural differences that drive western parents to allow their kids to believe in the sort of nonsense that a non-western kid doesn’t encounter. The Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, the stork that brings babies or reasons for allowing Cleveland to continue to exist.
I’m not trying to be a killjoy but I don’t see what purpose such fanciful creations serve. It’s not as if I lived a childhood devoid of some measure of innocence, imagination or creativity just because I never believed that a jolly old fat white man would bring me presents if I was good.
My parents bought me presents for Eid. There was no Muslim or Bangladeshi Claus. And I never asked for World Peace, just Super Mario Bros 3.
One comment
Comments are closed.