Talk to Animals

Last week on a sub assignment for an absent teacher, I walked among desks in a classroom of high school teenagers and looked at their writings and classwork. When I came along side one student, he looked up at me and asked, "Mr. Mabe, if you could have any power you wanted, what would it be?" As I gave his question brief thought and delivered my answer, he responded with another question. "Do you know what power I would like, he asked?"  "No, tell me," I said. He replied, "I would like the power to talk with animals."

I was impressed with his unusual imagination and told him I admired his thought. A nearby student commented that this student wanted to be a zoo keeper when he grows up. Another student interjected the name, "Dr. Doolittle" (referring to the 1998 movie about a doctor who talked to animals). I commented to the three students in the discussion, "Just imagine the body of knowledge we could gain if someone could communicate with animals." After the student told me the university where he planned to prepare for this vocation, the discussion reached closure and I moved along to other students in the class.

I later pondered thoughts of talking to animals. I imagined if it were possible to carry on a conversation with animals, we might help them avoid being overrun on streets and highways. People might stop eating beef, chicken, and other animal flesh if we conversed with domesticated and wild life. Perhaps animals would teach us more about nature, weather, and survival. We might learn that dogs and cats prefer living outdoors instead of inside the homes of people.

Oh well, it's something I thought about which was inspired by a young student.

Have a good week!