A recent post to the Jack’s Winning Words blog used this quote –
“The least I can do is speak out for those who cannot speak for themselves.” (Jane Goodall)
Jack went on to write about Jane’s long career of understanding and giving voice to the Chimpanzees that she loved. Most of us don’t spend our lived living in the jungle with Chimps, but many of us may have pets that we give voices to on a daily basis.
Our dogs, cats and birds seldom talk back (well maybe some of the birds do), but it is a way to try to express what we think they that may be thinking or what they might say, if they could talk. For some it’s a way to have a conversation with ourselves, by using the pet as a surrogate other self. That can get as spooky as the movies about conversations between the ventriloquists and their dummies.
I’ve noticed that many people tend to slip into a kind of baby talk when talking to or for their pets. I suppose that there is a certain cuteness factor to that, but it does tend to limit the intellectual content of the conversation. Wouldn’t it be more interesting if the pet talked in an educated adult voice? Maybe you’d even learn something from the discussions.
The toughest discussion to have for them is when they are obviously not feeling well or have been hurt. We try to express their pain or discomfort but find it frustrating that we really don’t understand what they are feeling or why. Maybe at those times we should have them just blurt out, ”take me to the vet you big dummy.”
Sometime our pets serve the purpose of being a good listener. Since they can’t talk back, they just sit there patiently listening to us drone on about our problems or perhaps they are just happy that we are petting them or giving them treats while we talk. They are usually ready to give us a big wet kiss if we need it, too.
The efforts that we may make to calm them also work to calm us and that’s a good thing. It also gives us “someone” that we can share our pains and disappointments with who will never judge us based upon what we tell them. So, perhaps it isn’t all that bad that we talk for and to our pets. That provides a voice to them that we sometimes need to hear to keep ourselves sane.
Well, I’ve got to go, now. My dog Sadie wants to have a talk with me about the things that happened yesterday and plan out what we are going to do together today. She can be quite talkative, but sometimes I think I may bore her in our conversations. She’s a good listener, even if she does sometimes snore during our conversations.
NormsMilfordBlog 