Romero 1

Aaron Romeo
Ms. Stinnett
English 12:1
20 Aug 2016
Query of Status Quo
In our lively experiences that shape our viewpoints and change us, despite some of these actions
or concepts being held as norms in that then; we make it our objective to oppose these and seek a better
way once a catalyst has triggered our profound thought and contemplation. What would provoke my
thoughts and opposition to norms would be the daily routine and livelihood of my grandparents. My
grandparents were traditional people living in a small ranching community composed of hundred year
old adobe dwellings, and just as the community surrounding the they were ranchers themselves. I
would often visit my grandparents many times a year and in any case I would stick closely to them
following them in likes of a duckling as there was little to do elsewhere, especially there only being one
ill equipped TV set within the house.

When with my grandparents I would often be served a beef broth, that was one of my particular
favorites on this occasion it had yet to be prepared by the time I arrived to see my grandparents. I
questioned my grandmother in particular about when it would be prepared and when it would be ready,
she responded that the meat would be ready later today once cowhands came by . In my naive
ignorance I did not realize what this signified, there being two cattle in the back enclosure of the yard.
In the later hours of the day these men arrived to butcher the one of the cattle, although I did not see the
initial demise of the cow when I went outside to see what was occurring I saw these burly men hacking
at the fresh dead corpse of this being that had been alive merely moments ago. The blood of the animal
stained the gravel below, the men's barbaric blows

Romero 2
echoed as the corpse was cut to pieces. It struck me that the other cow that was not killed was separated
from this horrid event by a frail rope watching these crows pick apart the flesh of his companion.

I witnessed this event as a display of complete lack of respect for the cattle not the basis of killing, as
obviously the consumption of meat requires killing but rather the lack of a thought to the other cattle as
these two cows had been companions to one another and grown together only for one to be This event
would profoundly impact my outlook on most everything, as it would come to signify my questioning
of norms that we often follow without thought or without our particular input. This event would raise
my concern for the meat industry, as in this killing was rather humane in the grand scope of the
industry in comparison to more common factory farming techniques. This event however is beyond my
conversion to vegetarianism, it is an impact that demonstrates the absence of our critical thought and
question to what occurs in our society and culture, and the lack of awareness to address it.

The absolute sense of dread and sorrow witnessed in the eyes of the cow the bitter shock watching over
dismemberment of its partner is a haunting reminder of the lack of our realization on our relative
barbarism. This is not an insult to my grandparents a people of kindness and tradition, but rather an
evaluation that we on the grand scope of things should work to better our methods of practice. What
my grandparents influenced me in a way the knew not nor meant to do but they provided valuable
foundation for my character as a person of profound query. This moral predicament allowed for my
conversion to a Vegetarian lifestyle, which in turn facilitated my transitional path to skepticism of
preset norms and how my belief is that we owe it as humans to be looking on a constant basis to the
pursuit of a better way to go about our lives.