volvoxvsmarla

We visited friends in Serbia in summer. It took me back to this smoking world I had long forgotten. Inside smoking and non smoking tables in crowded cafes side by side. And the craziest part was the indoor playgrounds for kids with cafes adjacent or part of it where you could also smoke (and buy hard liquor). But you know what, my kid could play for less than 1,5€ an hour on a rainy day, even when I lived in Munich there were like 2 indoor playgrounds in a 50 km radius and they cost a fortune. They had them everywhere for dirt cheap. So, I’ll happily get off my high horse.

The dichotomous measuring is what bugs me the most. Whether it is big 5 or this test, I basically always score between 47-53% in most categories (except neuroticism, I always ace this one). So I basically never get the same result twice, because there’s like one question where I put “somewhat agree” instead of “fully agree” this time and boom I am an introvert and not an extrovert.

But it’s already this “agree, disagree, neutral” questions that are so pointless and dichotomous. “Do you enjoy big parties” - well, now or ever? Is alcohol involved, is it late, do I know the people, do I take my kid, is it far away, what is the mood, is it loud, what do I do the next day, is it fun? Are we talking practical or hypothetical? As a teen and young adult I loved big parties and thrived, I love to hang out in big groups of friends, now I am in a new city where I barely know people and I have a toddler, so by the love of God, at 8 pm I am so tired a party is the last thing I want to do. I was invited to one, actually, with a lot of childless, single artists in their early 30s, the party didn’t even start until 9 pm, like, yeah my mind wants to go, but I have nothing in common with these people and I am so tired after a kindergarten christmas market, can’t be arsed. SO DO I LIKE PARTIES OR NOT

Imagine you wanted children and then someone would come along and castrate you because there’s a problem with overpopulation. You take away an individaul’s choice of reproduction for the greater good. And it makes sense, but the lack of consent or even understandment does not sit well with me.

Putting down pets is another thing. You make the decision whether a (sick/suffering) animal is going to die, while we are refusing to allow people to make this decision for themselves in most countries.

I absolutely see your point and I would not say you are wrong about it. But to me these are ethical questions that I just don’t wish to answer because there is not really a right answer.

It’s bizarre to me that harcore vegans want to own a pet to begin with. Keeping bees for honey is bad, but separating a kitten from its mother at an early age and castrating it for your convenience and deciding how they live (restricted to an apartment or not) is totally fine?

I understand that most pets live a good life, but man, I can’t bring myself to make choices like these. I mean there are ways to circumvent it (get an older cat from an asylum for example) but it doesn’t really remove the “pet dilemma” to me.

It’s probably a dumb question but have you tried leaving them a note?