A Little Perspective
Yesterday I posted a heart-felt bit about the death of our pet rat. Catie made the comment, "Do you really think anyone reads your blog anymore?" I expressed my own doubt but told her I just wrote it because it helped to write out my feelings.
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Well suprise, surprise...there are some of you who still read my blog and amazingly, were sensitive enough to post sweet comments about our grief process for a rat. Thank you. That really was sweet.
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Today perspective has returned. Talk of getting Pip, Michelle's rat, a new roommate has taken center stage, and we are all able to think of Lucy with a fond appreciation rather than the suprising depth of sadness yesterday. Who would think I could feel so sad about a rat.
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I remember years ago, we did a gift exchange with our family members in which we were required to purchase 4 items with only $5.00. The items must include something to wear, something to eat, something to play with, and something to read. We often resorted to very creative solutions in order to stay in the price range. My brother, who had drawn my name, bought a greeting card as my "something to read". It was a sympathy card, but what made it funny was it was a Pet Sympathy card. We all chuckled over the sticky sweet sentiments expressed as well as the thought someone would actually send a sympathy card for a pet!
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I was thinking about that card today and did a little google search, typing "Pet sympathy card" into google images. I chose only to br
owse the first 18 of about 128,000 matches. The image to the left is one such offerings. (I tried "Pet rat sympathy card" but that did not yield much -- apparently those who grieve for their rats to the degree they need a card are not a large enough market for the card makers.) Anyway, 128,000 matches? Amazing. Granted, Mother's Day Cards yielded 1,700,000 and Father's Day Cards yielded 1,300,000 (sorry dads), but still, 128,000 is nothing to sneeze at!***
Bottom line -- I'm feeling a lot better but I'm still musing over the big impact a furry little creature can have on a person's feelings! On the plus side, it must be good for the economy because the card industry would have a smaller market if that were not the case.
posted by jenylu @ 9:28 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
I never really thought about pet sympathy cards before. But, I guess I'm aware they exist because our vet clinic sent cards to the owners of pet's who died that came to our clinic. So, there's where one corner of the market is...vet clinics.
Not being a 'pet' person I cannot totally understand, but I do know that the human capacity for love is expansive.
So whatever people invest their hearts in, dogs, cats, their gardens, loss can be tragic. I've even heard, of pet funerals and burial plots.
I'm sure someone somewhere is always thinking of the next great way to squeeze money from those that suffer.
In response to Kludge's "I've even heard of": we have a local pet cemetary where you can buy plots, coffins, even have your pet cremated. It is rather expensive (close to what a person would cost) and a lot of the "rich" people take their animals there. It is amazing what people will spend for an animal.
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