the real killers!¡!¡

Last week after track practice, I decided to go eat some much deserved Chipotle.  I ordered my typical meal -- a chicken burrito with a mix of white and brown rice, pinto beans, mild salsa with a little bit of medium corn salsa, cheese, and lettuce-- but I paused for a second.  We, lovers of Chipotle (1) , came and ate here often blind to the realities of what we were consuming.  As we pointed our dirty, greedy fingers at whatever we desired to fill our burrito, we ignored the truth.  We ignored the inhumane treatment.  We turned our heads away from the human characteristics, cannibalizing our not-so-distant relatives.  It reacts to differences in light; it changes its behavior when listening to music; it hangs on and fights for one thing-- life.  How can we eat something so similar to us?  How do we know that when our teeth rip apart its flesh it doesn't feel pain, or worse, betrayal.  But still, we continue our habits, eat something that shares 50% of our own DNA.  

One day, my grandchildren will ask this question:  "Granddad, why did you used to eat lettuce?  It had so much in common with us, like it had basic instincts that resisted death, and shared DNA, plus you made it sit in a behind a glass counter, mutilated and watch as it was slowly spread out between multiple burritos and eaten.  And since we can't go into the mind of this plant, it could have been experiencing much worse.  That's messed up."

And I will reply, "Child, at some point humans have to realize that some living thing has to die in order to sustain a human population of 10 billion.  Creatures and plants of lower intellectual capability are a logical choice to draw this line at. Even if we didn't eat this plant, some other creature, whether it be a rabbit or a deer, would still consume it.   All living things resist death-- humans, lettuce and lobsters alike-- but in order to prolong the life of one of the only guaranteed self-conscious creatures capable of a plethora of emotions, we must kill.  So enjoy your lobster salad: only two small life forms died to continue yours."

(1).  "lovers of Chipotle" refers to everyone, because, well, everyone loves Chipotle.  And if you don't then you are wrong.

Here we witness the brutal killing of this beautfil creature.