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I am become Death, destroyer of pigs
Posted on 2008.10.29 at 10:09Current Mood:
stressed
Never has this user icon, of Terry Pratchett's Death, been quite so appropriate. As Death says in one of Pratchett's books, "There is no justice. There's just me." That's ironic, since one of the great joys I find in Pratchett's books is that his characters do meet their just rewards.
But today, I am an arbiter of life and death, and money. Louis, my 5.5-year-old guinea pig, has a kidney stone and will die without surgery that will cost $600-900. If it was several thousand dollars, it would be right out, and if it was a couple hundred, I'd do it without hesitation. But he's a middle-aged pig, and I'm not sure I can justify spending a month's rent on him, and frankly I don't even want to have guinea pigs when I graduate. That's a lot of cold reasoning, and I know I'm kind of horrible for it, but I think I've made up my mind to not get the surgery. It's hard to look at him and know that I've sold him out for 1 month's rent, that I have held his little life in my hands and cast it aside, that he would live, but for me.
In general, I believe that if you can't afford to care for your pet, you can't afford to get a pet, and I've been good about taking care of them. But there's obviously a line somewhere, and this surgery is in a terrible gray area, and I think I've chosen the heartless but reasonable option.
Edit: the proper quote is, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," from the Bhagavad Gita, brought to me by Oppenheimer's statement at the first nuclear test. In this case, the proper modification is, "I am become Death, destroyer of pigs."
But today, I am an arbiter of life and death, and money. Louis, my 5.5-year-old guinea pig, has a kidney stone and will die without surgery that will cost $600-900. If it was several thousand dollars, it would be right out, and if it was a couple hundred, I'd do it without hesitation. But he's a middle-aged pig, and I'm not sure I can justify spending a month's rent on him, and frankly I don't even want to have guinea pigs when I graduate. That's a lot of cold reasoning, and I know I'm kind of horrible for it, but I think I've made up my mind to not get the surgery. It's hard to look at him and know that I've sold him out for 1 month's rent, that I have held his little life in my hands and cast it aside, that he would live, but for me.
In general, I believe that if you can't afford to care for your pet, you can't afford to get a pet, and I've been good about taking care of them. But there's obviously a line somewhere, and this surgery is in a terrible gray area, and I think I've chosen the heartless but reasonable option.
Edit: the proper quote is, "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds," from the Bhagavad Gita, brought to me by Oppenheimer's statement at the first nuclear test. In this case, the proper modification is, "I am become Death, destroyer of pigs."