Pets

I stay away not just from animals, but also from animal lovers. The amount of time, love & money they spend with their pets would have been put into good use, if only they were spent on fellow human beings -is my view.

Americans 'love' their dogs as if they are their family members. (Recall the hype over Obama's dog selection for his daughters in the White House). As they walk their dogs, which they religiously do, if they happen to meet others+dog, they stop to say 'hi, how is your boy doing"?. (I never use 'he' or 'she' or anything other than 'it' to refer to a dog). To me, "A dog is a dog is a dog". In Japan, a hot-spring in Yubara-cho has a separate tub for pet dogs. (And I stopped going to that hot spring ever since I came to know of this).

My children differ from me though. They love cats, dogs... and well, anything an animal-lover loves. When in Florida, they never miss an opportunity to be pictured with what I won't dare to touch!