So, I went to my company's shareholders' meeting this morning, and the otherwise dry and uneventful hour-and-change had memorable moment. At the end of the board's presentation, the forum opened up for comments and questions. Aside from the groups of men and women in pricey, formal business attire, was a single young woman. She stuck out like a sore thumb. Sure enough, when the time came for questions and comments, her she thrust her right arm straight up in the air. I could almost hear her thought, "Oh! Oh! Me! Me! Please, call on me!" She introduced herself as a representative of PETA, and proceeded with a 5 minute speech on how certain practices of slaughtering chickens are more humane, and wanted to know if the company would do anything to encourage and to promote this PETA-preferred method. It seems this appearance was not a surprise to the board, as a generic, prepared statement was read in response. I thought it particularly humorous and ineffective that PETA would waste resources to send a representative to a breakfast restaurant board meeting, given the nature of what food products are typically offered at a breakfast. I don't know about you, but I usually don't ask for chicken in my omelette. Now, if they wanted to protest the killing of pigs, that might make a bit more sense.
All this talk of pigs and breakfast made me think of ham and bacon. Man, I am such a carnivore. I don't know how anyone could get by as a vegatarian.
For some background information: Coming into this event, my supervisor / boss had mentioned the interruptions and protests of PETA in years past, and he hoped history would not repeat itself. They have had incidents where individuals showed up and protested outside the corporate headquarters wearing a chicken suit. Fortunately, the sole representative from PETA conducted herself in a respectful manner, sitting quietly through the presentation, and making her timely comment and question at the end.
That story reminded me of an incident last year, when I was visiting my father for the Christmas season. It was a Saturday afternoon, and we all went to the local mall to eat at a Chili's restaurant. Outside the main entrance to the mall stood about 15 PETA protesters, one of them dressed up like a fox. The animal... not an attractive woman (I mention that because PETA has drawn attention by sending young, attractive females to events in their bikinis to attract attention). In any case, this bunch of PETA folks was protesting the sale of fur and leather goods, citing the cruel and unhumane treatment of the animals from which the materials are "harvested."
I found this spectacle to be silly, but what I witnessed soon thereafter elicited a "laugh out loud" response. About 10-15 minutes after we sat down to eat, we observed through the window a group of people setting up something directly across the street from the PETA bunch. At first, we could not determine what it was that they were up to, immediately assuming they were affiliated with PETA as well. However, within a few minutes it was quite obvious that they were there not to protest fur and leather, but rather the PETA protest, itself. This mostly-male group pulled out a BBQ, and started grilling ribs and burgers and chicken, with a breeze sifting what must have been a delicious scent of grilled meat in the direction of the presumptively-vegan PETA protestors. Such moments make me proud of this country's protection of free speech.
So, I got to wondering... how many leather jackets did PETA prevent from being sold? And going back even farther, how many cows avoided slaughter because of PETA protesting in front of a shopping mall? I'm pretty the number is pretty close to a whopping zero.
Which brings me to my point, a natural conclusion: PETA is an attention whore. Maybe the organization was founded on some sound principles. Hell, I have had many pets and I am all in favor of treating animals with some dignity. But these loonies have gone overboard a bit. These protests and spectacles probably do more to HURT their cause that they do to convince people to change their consumption - be it food or shopping.
All this talk of pigs and breakfast made me think of ham and bacon. Man, I am such a carnivore. I don't know how anyone could get by as a vegatarian.
For some background information: Coming into this event, my supervisor / boss had mentioned the interruptions and protests of PETA in years past, and he hoped history would not repeat itself. They have had incidents where individuals showed up and protested outside the corporate headquarters wearing a chicken suit. Fortunately, the sole representative from PETA conducted herself in a respectful manner, sitting quietly through the presentation, and making her timely comment and question at the end.
That story reminded me of an incident last year, when I was visiting my father for the Christmas season. It was a Saturday afternoon, and we all went to the local mall to eat at a Chili's restaurant. Outside the main entrance to the mall stood about 15 PETA protesters, one of them dressed up like a fox. The animal... not an attractive woman (I mention that because PETA has drawn attention by sending young, attractive females to events in their bikinis to attract attention). In any case, this bunch of PETA folks was protesting the sale of fur and leather goods, citing the cruel and unhumane treatment of the animals from which the materials are "harvested."
I found this spectacle to be silly, but what I witnessed soon thereafter elicited a "laugh out loud" response. About 10-15 minutes after we sat down to eat, we observed through the window a group of people setting up something directly across the street from the PETA bunch. At first, we could not determine what it was that they were up to, immediately assuming they were affiliated with PETA as well. However, within a few minutes it was quite obvious that they were there not to protest fur and leather, but rather the PETA protest, itself. This mostly-male group pulled out a BBQ, and started grilling ribs and burgers and chicken, with a breeze sifting what must have been a delicious scent of grilled meat in the direction of the presumptively-vegan PETA protestors. Such moments make me proud of this country's protection of free speech.
So, I got to wondering... how many leather jackets did PETA prevent from being sold? And going back even farther, how many cows avoided slaughter because of PETA protesting in front of a shopping mall? I'm pretty the number is pretty close to a whopping zero.
Which brings me to my point, a natural conclusion: PETA is an attention whore. Maybe the organization was founded on some sound principles. Hell, I have had many pets and I am all in favor of treating animals with some dignity. But these loonies have gone overboard a bit. These protests and spectacles probably do more to HURT their cause that they do to convince people to change their consumption - be it food or shopping.
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