Garbage and Youngsters: Tools and Thoughts of Survival

I never really liked cats, until recently. My grandpa had asthma. My auntie and her family have to move out of the country for fresher air. My little brother up till today still pockets this green sprayer every time he has to work late. Cats’ furs are like two sides of a knife. It helps (they’re cute!) and it kills (they carry diseases!). City cats are big big big time disease carriers. They go from one garbage place to another  for food. I confess: I just found them cute recently. Honestly typing.

Cats. Jakarta is surrounded by a jungle of cats (read: nauseating kampung cats, also fierce but they are not jungle cats). In my neighbourhood, I’ve even counted a hundred of small cuties and kucing garong type of hunks. They pass by, jump fences and rooftops, make noises in the middle of the night, eat garbage, and do other survival behaviours. Their activities really annoy me. Well, understanding their nature of behaviour problems essentially helped me finding any dysfunctional, abnormal or maladaptive behaviour since “the problem is the not the animal’s behaviour per se but rather the problem that this behaviour poses for its owner” (Askew 1996). Coincidentally, I’ve found ways to help overcome those uninvited passers-by. Here goes…

Last month my youngest played and laughed with a skinny kitten in the backyard. He fed this skinny cutie. He cuddled it gently. They both looked really adorable!

This kitten is like a baby. Feed him right, and he doesn’t go scratching garbage cans anymore. He always waits patiently, even politely snuggling my legs when it is time for breakfast or lunch or dinner time. Today this willy nilly kitten doesn’t look for trash anymore.

Garbage. Now there’s another subject for observing animal behaviour. Please see the resemblance with our children. Any youngsters shall look for trash if their parents teach them to, or if their parents cannot provide decent foodings for their brain, body and soul. Our kids shall look for trashie porns at Warnet. Who’s to blame? King of jungle?

wikipedia.org

Porns are craftmanship at the very bottom of Maslow’s pyramid. Pics and videos of nakedness are considered trashie, but why? It is not about age issues per se, but remember this: not wearing a piece of clothing are supposed to be private issues. When they are out in public, they are considered improper.

Let’s scrutinize how garment industries work. Consider why we’d wear BLV by Bvlgari after odour-free hocus-pocus for our armpits. We want to look decent and smell good. We are wearing Armani’s for fitting into the very top of Maslow’s. These are humane thus very private values. These are our very animal behaviour for survival.

Our kids are like kittens. Provide them with the right survival tools and thoughts of achievement. Cuddle them. Feed and protect them. Live it to the utmost. Or just think about it.