Thoughts Upon Being Mooed

It is customary, on my morning walks, for me to see birds, squirrels, cats, dogs and, occasionally, groundhogs, raccoons, skunks and...once...an unhappy porcupine in a tree. It looked a bit frustrated that it was still out and about in the daylight. But yesterday, I encountered the strangest creature. Though not completely unknown in my lifetime, I rarely see one these days. My present day companions (both male and female) are kind, considerate, humanistic and humane creatures. Nothing at all like the thing I saw in my neighborhood.

It--this creature I saw on my walk--presumably had some intelligence, because it stood upright on a ladder and wielded a hammer. It spoke to another, similar creature who stood slightly above the first on the ladder. From all outward appearances, these seemed mature examples of the species.

However, as I walked by, the first creature, the one lower on the ladder opened its throat and made a long, loud mooing sound in my direction. Since I was, admittedly lost in thought planning my day, it took me a few steps to realize the sound was meant for me. I presume it was meant for me because both ladder-dwelling creatures looked in my direction and laughed. I suppose it is possible the lower creature was totally embarrassed at having such a noise erupt from its mouth just as I happened to walk by...and that is why both creatures laughed. However, I doubt it was an accident. The sound was clearly a moo.

So, let us just say this...moo...was meant for me. Curious, indeed. I am not sure what the creature wanted to tell me. My assumption is that it wanted to communicate with me somehow, even in its primitive form.

I certainly do not have the qualifications to interpret what this lower creature intended. I wonder, though, what does it get out of making such an odd noise? Does the creature think the sound, this mooing, makes it cool or macho or powerful...or what? I am baffled by it and would really like to know.

I also wonder how the creature would like it if its mother or sister or daughter or partner experienced such a moo? I would ask it, but I doubt it would have the capacity to give me an intelligent answer.

This is probably beyond the hammer wielding, ladder-dwelling creature's ability to grasp, but one small action--one wayward moo--does have a wide-reaching effect. Consider this: while the creature knows very little about me, I know a whole lot about it. I know where it works, what it does, what it looks like and how it represents itself in public. I could, in theory, spread the word about this creature in my own, small way, in my own, small community. It really would not think I would keep silent about the encounter, would it?

I know this blog is, primarily, a call to walk in others' shoes, to reach for understanding. Frankly, I would not want to swap places with this creature. I do not like bullying. And big bullying starts with small bullying. The sad thing is, this creature probably does not even remember the encounter. It is possible this mooing behavior is so normal for the creature it does not even recognize how disrespectful its action was. This is a sad, sad little creature indeed.

More than anything else--beyond my anger at having my peaceful walk disrupted by ignorant behavior--I feel sorry for the creature and hope, one day, it understands the power of one moo.