Answer 84 - A decent burial followed by a Good Irish Wake!

At what point does 'honoring the animal' cross the line into 'I just really want to keep my ivory-covered car because it's totally bitchin'?'  

Since I've been called to the carpet, and I love arguing more than I love gouda in Gouda - Here's the thing: it's not that I'm a fanatic (mostly) - try not to be about much of anything, other than coffee in the morning and occasionally politics.. and bad poetry.. er..and... Well, anyway, even a fool like me knows that you can't be part of the First World [insert orchestral flourish with tom tom and gong] and not participate in the killing fields, on many levels. 


But we all have to pick our battles. Elephants are mine. I can't tell you why - I just have an affinity for them, and if you feel strongly about a thing, shouldn't you try to honor the thing? Like that Julia woman in the redwood tree, remember?  
  Sure you look like a touchy-feely granola crunching hippie, but the tree can't speak for itself. Neither can the elephant, last I heard.


Since I've made a point of trying to support the elephant population, it just seems contradictory for me to participate in the ivory trade. right? That trade has never have been honorable, so I see no honor in the owning of the ivory. I don't honor my leather walls (it turns out all my walls are covered in leather - thought it was pleather), nor my harp seal throw pillows (thought they were mink). I don't honor my mink napkin rings and matching spittoon (knew they were mink).


And there's a question for you - Do you keep the mink spittoon and harp seal throw pillows in order to honor the impossibly supple and soft furry animals, or do you give them a decent burial?


The way I figure it - if it turns out so, I replace the ivory bits with other bits, give the ivory bits an honorable burial, and I still have my accordion and my self-respect. But no worries, folks, I'll still be buying all my clothes from Indonesian sweat shops, and I only wear shoes made from the skins of baby alligators. 


Quippy is better than soppy. But I'm still getting rid of the ivory keys.*


*However, if it turns out they're made of bengal tiger claws - OH YEAH! It's back to E-Bay for my little Silvetti.

Baby needs a new set of snakeskin coasters!