Ten Questions

My publisher asked me to submit 10 questions folks should be asking about the financial reform bill (Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act).

"Drop it," says Virginia.  "No one wants to read about that."

I know.  I wasn't going to write about that.  Here are my 10 questions.

1.  So you raised turkeys for 5 1/2 months.  Where are they now?  -- In our freezer.

2.  You didn't!  How could you?  I thought they were pets.  -- They were never pets.

3.  But, what did it feel like?  -- Not good.  I'm glad it's over.

4.  Are you glad you did it?  -- Yes, it was an important experience.  It brought into focus what's really behind those neat meat counter packages that mislead us into forgetting what we're buying.

5.  I don't want to get that close.  Must I?  -- No, that's totally up to you, but don't tell me I'm heartless or I'll tell you a thing or two.

6.  Do you think your frozen packages had a better life than those in the meat counters?  -- Yes, definitely.  They lived in a pasture under the sun, free to run around and eat bugs, worms, crabapples and other things.  They even got hugs once in a while.

7.  Right, like turkeys care.  They don't, do they?  -- I have no idea, but I care.  (And if I ever come back as a turkey, I definitely don't want to be packed in a factory with 50,000 others so tightly I can hardly move.)

8.  I hate to come back to this, but what was it like watching them die?  -- No fun.  I held their feet tightly, hoping my touch might help them through it, sort of like holding hands.

9.  Did you do the deed?  -- Actually no, although I might as well have since my eating caused it.  A friend of ours with experience in Africa accepted the honor.

10.  Will you be raising turkeys next year?  -- Maybe, but definitely not as many as the 19 we did this year.