Thursday, September 28, 2006
A Crack In My Stone-Cold Heart
I just took a quick walk to buy a pack of cigarettes and on my way back I saw a pigeon sitting on the sidewalk. I walked up to it and noticed that it was covered in some sort of goo, almost like it was a victim of the Exxon Valdez disaster. The poor little bird just sat there with its head turning in all directions. Although I was standing directly above it, the bird didn’t even try to fly away. It just sat there looking like all was lost.
Living in NYC, pigeons can be a major hassle - but I have this soft spot in my heart for any type of animal – even the rats in the subway tunnels. I wanted to scoop this bird up in my hands and pet it until the last remaining moments of its life slipped away. When I got back into the building, I told our security guard about the situation and he went outside to “take care of the problem”. I just hope he handled it in the most humane way possible.
I hate seeing things like this. Now I’ll have the image of a dying bird in my brain for the rest of the day. It just looked so pathetic and helpless.
Sad.
