A Matter of Ethics
Hi, I'm Dorene. I am a bleeding heart liberal who loves life. I cry during torture scenes in movies, and when I hear of abuse cases, or sometimes when I see dead animals in the road. I have a weak stomach and possibly a weaker heart. I have always had an issue with eating red meat, but I grew up on a farm, so I pushed it back and deep down and tried to forget.
I am in college. I took this course in Ethics in Communication. As part of the course, my dear, dear professor felt that we should learn how some media campaigns are inherently unethical, with a focus on fast food. We watched "Super Size Me," read "Fast Food Nation," watched its film verison. If you have not seen the latter, let me save you two hours: Mexicans are abused, fast food employees are abused, and cows are horribly slaughtered to feed us.
Watching the slaughter of these animals was too much for my professor to ask of me. But I watched it in its entirety. Then I had to write a paper about it, and the research brought me to a website upon which there was a really horrible video of a slaughterhouse without ethical restriction. I would never have seen any part of it had I realized. As it is, I saw enough in my few horrified moments to scar me for life.
Dad made this really awesome looking steak for dinner tonight. And I couldn't do it. I had half of a potato and some beans, and now I'm working on a glass of milk. Same at lunch today, which was my favorite baked potato soup with cheddar and bacon. Halfway through, I was done.
Danny said to me, "You're turning into one of them!"
It's not purposeful. I happen to like sausage and pepperoni on my pizza, and dislike tofu with intensity. But it's just not working for me right now. Maybe it'll pass.
If it doesn't, Danny, I think you may just have to deal.