Goldfish Triage
Those of you who have experience with these particular fish know that they are not the hardiest of creatures and often expire rapidly. In the old days they used to actually pass out the fish at the carnival. This presented a number of problems.
As a child it was "papa can you please carry my fish so that I can play other games" and as a grandparent it was "I am carrying too much crap to begin with, how can I possibly be loaded down any further I am not a pack mule.”
In recent years someone came up with a brainstorm and they began presenting vouchers that could be redeemed for a fish. It is a brilliant idea . . . you can wait until after the carnival and then go to the pet store to pick up your fish. And from the store perspective it is a great time to do some up selling. In our particular case my grand daughter redeemed her two vouchers somewhere around two weeks ago. And in to our house came two new fish who received the same names as the fish that preceded them in the very same bowl my wife had “won” fish during a heart fund raiser several Christmas’s ago.
That evening after the house grew dark and I could hear snoring from the various rooms I explained to the fish that they had moved into a place that had nothing but potential for them and that even though the prior owners were deceased their environment and upkeep had nothing to do with the former fish deaths.
They didn't even bother to thank me, just kept swimming in circles, their mouths forming little 'Os' as they circled the bowl. I warned them that ignoring me would lead to circling a different bowl at a much faster clip, but they didn't listen.
In less than a week the first fish went to wherever it is that fish go when they die. The last time this happened, last spring, my grand daughter was quite upset and really interrogated me about life and what happens to things, people, animals, and fish when they die. Pretty deep thoughts for a three year old but she amazes me in her attempts to problem solve things. For reasons I cannot figure out at this point, she wasn't even fazed by this fish’s death and went about her business.
A few nights ago we noticed that the second fish seems to be fading a little. So we mentioned this to the younger, smarter and better looking version of my son. I suggested that it was possible that this fish might die soon too and tried to prepare her a little just in case.
My grand daughter had none of it because she had a plan to save the fish. She took a chair and pushed it into the kitchen and next to the bowl where she then stood up and blew into the bowl. Afterwards she explained to me that she was helping the fish breathe by sharing her air with the fish.
I'd like to say that this is because she is a very sweet and giving girl and perhaps in part it is. But the thing that made me smile was that I could see the wheels turning in her head, she was trying to come up with a solution to the problem. And I couldn't help but beam with pride because in theory the idea is solid.
We see humans and all sorts of other creatures survive accidents/disease by devices/people that help them to breathe. I don't know if she has ever seen this on television, but even if she has I am very proud of her.
I couldn’t resist ending with this cute cartoon . . .
I guess it just suits me.
Ice
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