One Comment

1. Ernest’s story is beautiful, heart-wrenching, and so true. Modern Western urban civilization treats death as somehow being simultaneously both taboo and sacred – untouchable, frightening, and only to be spoken of in hushed tones. Despite the fact that death is common, inevitable, and also part of harvesting meat for food, people like the therapist in the story clutch their pearls and raise an eyebrow at its very mention and assume that witnessing a death must by default be traumatic, and that someone who kills a living being must be somehow “disturbed.”

   Of course Ernest was upset by the rat incident in a unique way – it was the only situation where his personal safety was jeopardized. By virtue of being accustomed to being around deaths, he responded to each situation within context of what it was, instead of being traumatized by the mere presence of gore and death. This does not mean he’s cold-hearted or has a psychological problem; it means he’s just…a normal farm boy.

   Great story. Thank you for sharing!

   —Susan, February 27, 2021 at 5:20 AM