Dear editor,
This is in reply to the complaint about the deer picture, in Ralph Shaw’s column, on Nov 19.
It’s unfortunate that many of us are so sensitive these days. In this case it presents as intolerance to the lifestyles of others in our community when they don’t mesh with our own private ideologies. For many of us preparing game or livestock for use as food is something we have done at some point in our lives.
I clearly remember my first experience with seeing a deer, close up, that had been shot for food. I was around eight years old. I was not frightened at all, I was excited, as were the adults around me, and I wanted to help with the work being done. I was learning from the example being set by my family.
An important lesson I have learned over the years is to be open to unfamiliar ideas and practices. That’s not so easy as it requires us to leave our comfort zone. When I was in high school and college it was considered normal and constructive to be challenged by things that made me uncomfortable. It’s a necessary process if one wants to learn and grow as an individual.
I think that our culture generally lacks respect for the experiences of our elders and Ralph is one of the few who freely offers that up every week for anyone who will read his columns. Getting old is a real dichotomy in that we gain a very broad perspective as we age to three or four generations and beyond but we have ever less time to tell younger people about what we have learned over our many years. In short: Our culture has a very brief window of opportunity to learn from its elders.
Let’s not set the PC police on everything that crowds our comfort zone a little. There is much to be learned from much of that stuff you think you want to be sheltered from.
Noel Chaney
Courtenay