Family Outing
Some years ago when my children were still young, I was driving south on Soto Street. Suddenly, my children started laughing and giggling. Soon I realized the reason for their excitement. I was driving behind a large truck, the inside of which was divided into different compartments and levels.
Look Who Is Inside
On each row, many clean, healthy looking pigs were standing side by side. My children pointed at them and laughed. It seemed that the pigs were also making happy noises, and they were laughing back to us.
The pigs had the air of excited, happy children who were going away to a fun camp for the first time.
The truck turned left, and we continued on to our destination. We stayed longer in the factory than I had anticipated.
Déjà vu? Not Really
Later while I was driving north on Soto, we arrived at the beautiful mural representing life on the farm, with happy pigs running around in the middle of the green plants, under the blue sky.
While we were admiring the painting, suddenly we recognized the same truck that came out of the plant and drove in front of us.
This time the driver was all alone in front. Everything was empty, quiet and wet. It seemed that they had just washed the entire truck as water still was dripping from all sides.
Thinking It Over
The children and I stayed silent for a moment. We understood what had happened to the formerly happy pigs. We could still hear their giggling and joy when riding in the truck. My son said: Poor pigs. They were so happy. Probably, they thought that they were going to a picnic. They were so happy!
His voice trembled and faded.
A Mother Responds
I overcame my emotions and answered: This is life. It happens equally to the pigs and to men. We are happy for a moment, and we do not know what will happen next.
The important part is that we should laugh like the pigs and appreciate life while the time is given us and leave the rest for when it happens. The children felt less guilty as they immediately said, Thank God that we do not eat pork.
I did not want to make them sadder and remind them that the chickens, the cows and the lambs have the same fate.
Reflection Time
The rest of our ride, we all remained quiet and sad.
Once home, I searched for the Farmer John web site.
One phrase captured my attention, and it comforted everyone in our family:
(Owners) Barney and Francis (sons of the founder) were guided by a central theme installed by their father: Respect.
Respect each other, your employees, your products, your customers, your environment, and with hard work, you are sure to be successful.
I also learned that fresh sausages are packed at the rate of over 8,000 pounds per hour.
One can imagine how many full trucks of happy pigs are sacrificed each day. Every day we eat sausages and other food, and we do not think of their origin.
A Hinge for Our Lives
I thought of the prayer that some people perform before consuming their food. Maybe by doing so we are remembering to respect and appreciate what we eat.
Our everyday lives depend on different sacrifices.
If we take time in our busy schedule to be thankful for and appreciative of what we eat, what we have, then everything in life will become valuable.
Many times we only realize the value of persons or objects after we lose them.
Learning from Wise Friend
A friend came late for a meeting recently, and while I was hugging her to welcome her, I reminded her of being late.
She kindly answered that I should be happy that she finally had made it because she might not have been able to make it.
I hugged her tighter than usual. I knew she was wise.
I appreciated that we were lucky to see each other again.
Dr. Rosemary Cohen, who lives in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, is the author of three books. She earned her doctorate in sociology from the Sorbonne in Paris. She moved to Los Angeles with her family 23 years ago. Since 1985, Dr. Cohen has owned and operated an international art business, Atelier de Paris, on Robertson Boulevard.
