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True
to Breed
by Elizabeth Bussey Sowdal |
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On
Wednesdays when I am driving home from work I like to listen to a program on the
radio (KROU) called "Calling All Pets." It is hosted by Trisha McConnell who is
a zoologist and animal behavior specialist. People call her from all over the
country for advice on training their animals. I really enjoy listening to this
program, especially if I have had a difficult day at work, because Dr. McConnell
loves her job. She LUH-UH-UH-VES it! You can hear her happiness and enthusiasm
in her voice. If she was a grout inspector or a removing gum from theater seats
specialist and was as enthusiastic about those things as she is about animal behavior
I would still listen to her just for the pleasure of hearing somebody who is so
fulfilled and so very, very happy.
People frequently call her with questions
about training their dogs and Dr. McConnell will say, "Oh yes, your dog is doing
that because he is a Something Or The Other and they have been bred for centuries
to do that sort of thing." It occurred to me that our lives would be so much simpler
if people were classified by breeds.
There could be Engineering Breeds
and Medical Breeds and Construction Breeds and Organization Breeds. Mothers could
tell their sons, "Well, certainly you can go for a degree in Hospitality Industry
son, but my side of the family are all Musicians and your father’s side are all
Manufacturers. Why don’t you think about learning to build oboes instead?" The
son’s face would light up with revelation. "Build oboes? That’s perfect! That’s
exactly what I want to do! I will learn to build them and then I will design a
better oboe! I will create the most beautiful oboe there has ever been!" and he
would live the rest of his life happy and fulfilled by his career.
Things
would be so much easier. It would be less expensive to go to college because you
would know what you wanted to study and would not have to waste any time or money
on classes trying to "find" yourself. You would know within a general category
or two what you were suited to do. Think of the soul searching and angst that
would be avoided! Think of all the nights spent in coffee shops, of all the hours
spent laying on your tummy in bed wondering and wondering what you will do that
could then be put to productive use.
And then, think too of the benefits
to society if everyone had a career for which they were physically and temperamentally
suited! You would never find a man with the soul of a park ranger trapped for
all his days in a windowless cubicle becoming more frustrated and bitter each
day until all his happiness was compressed into a little nugget hidden somewhere
deep within his chest where he could never feel it or find it or even know that
it was still there. Husbands and wives who were thrilled with their occupations
would make much happier couples and raise happier families. Mothers would never
sigh to their daughters, "Don’t make the mistakes I made. Do not become a dental
hygienist when you really want to paint houses. Follow your dreams dear, dare
to climb the highest scaffold, feel the sun hot on your head, smell the crisp,
clean bite of enamel in the air. Go for a High Gloss life darling!"
Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if you could go in to see your high school counselor and he would
be a person for whom counseling teens was better than anything else in the world.
You would go into his office at the age of fourteen and he would say, "Good morning
Suzy! Sit! Good girl! Treat! Now, I see that you are a Textile Worker and Architect
mix, hmm? That’s a nice mix, yes it is! Treat! You might consider fashion design
or civil engineering or any of these other careers in these pamphlets. That’s
a girl!"
Think how enjoyable our everyday lives would be if everyone loved
their job passionately. Food would be more delicious, our clothes would be more
beautiful, our cars would be repaired properly the first time, our houses would
last centuries, our perfume would really suit us. Big business would benefit by
not having to pay employees for "mental health" days and health care costs would
plummet if people were happier with their lives. Addiction issues would disappear
entirely from our scope of experience and people would be inclined to take very
good care of themselves so that they could live longer and enjoy their jobs for
more years. There would be no strife in the workplace, nor any strife anywhere
at all. It’s a pity it isn’t that simple for human folks. It’s just a pity we
can’t live with a dog’s simplicity and clarity of purpose. If only it was a dog’s
life! | |
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