Of moose and men

I'm puzzled about this current age we live in, at least in our civilized West.  Especially this summer as a person in the company of three off leash canines warned me severely not to allow my children to startle the moose ahead of us on the trail.  If one asked the moose, she could care less about the humans traipsing by and gawking at her but she was certainly unhappy about the dogs, of which there were many, but it was my children that earned the social commentary and not these freelance hounds.  I have oft wondered at the modern virtue of leashed children and free range chickens/off leash dogs.  Pigs and lab rats all need a certain amount of square footage allotted to them to make the vague masses, that have never encountered such a creature personally, to continue in vague indifference as to their existence, but happy in the thought that their needs are met and attended to.  These same vague masses are quite put out at the thought of having to deal with other people's annoying offspring, however.  Whereas a nameless pig or mouse or goldfish must have certain needs met or it is a moral crisis, the children of their fellow men must needs only remain conveniently out of sight and hearing, naught else matters.

I wonder what will happen on our upcoming flight this summer, when for vagaries known only to the intelligentsia behind airline ticketing, my two year old will likely be seated away from other members of her family.  Horses cannot legally be packed on a trailer but people can certainly be cramped onto the aerial variant of a cattle barge.  Heaven help us if the child should fuss or complain!  But then I am the right villain, purchasing those particular tickets as I did and thus inconveniencing everyone else!  And there is nothing so offensive to a modern mind as inconvenience.

There are all sorts of social platitudes about why kids can't run loose anymore, most dealing with safety, but in reality because the little buggers are inconvenient.  I have no moral qualms about free range chickens or off leash dogs, it just irks me that the same consideration is not given to juvenile humanity.  I'm not saying let them play in traffic or run loose at a crowded mall or get their sticky little hands all over the exhibit at the local museum, but why can't a 10 year old ride his bike around a small town or the twelve year old walk to the local park unsupervised?  We used to have neighborhoods and families and friends and neighbors and communities who would keep an eye on any such youngsters abroad, it was part of growing up, this partially supervised freedom, but it is no longer socially acceptable.  Society is too busy and self-absorbed to monitor the inconvenient next generation.  They need to be caged, kept on a leash, and otherwise supervised, except perhaps in the jungles of social media, wherein their privacy must be respected at all costs.  And that the unfortunate parents must deal with alone, as they deemed the little monsters worthy of keeping in the first place, let them deal with the problem and not inconvenience everyone else!

So it is we are cautioned not to disturb the moose with our irritating offspring, but everybody loves a dog, even a moose!  Save no one has bothered to ask the moose!