Unexplored Territory

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

The King of Beers

When my niece was about 8 or 9 years old, Free Willy had been released on the unsuspecting public.

If you haven't had a chance to watch this movie, the basic premise is this: boy befriends killer whale in captivity; killer whale in question is going to be killed by the aquarium owners; boy takes matters into his own hands; boy releases killer whale into open waters, which I am sure is a much better ending ... unless you really think about a whale, whose species is known to live in pods and to hunt together, being released into the wild ocean where he will most surely not survive ... but don't think too much about it.

Free Willy opened the eyes of my niece to the issue of wild animals in captivity. But not just any animal. Just the marine animals. Immediately, she decided to take on corporate America: Anheuser-Busch, the owner of Sea World.

Writing a rather inflammatory letter that only a 9 year old could craft, using large words like "dummies" and "hate," my niece sent her letter, demanding that Anheuser-Busch force Sea World to release its killer whales.

She waited for weeks for their response. Finally, a letter appeared, and my niece frantically ripped it open.

Inside the envelope was a nicely-worded letter that basically told her thanks, but no thanks. We treat our whales with respect and honor and dignity. But hey kid, for your trouble, here are ...

Four complimentary passes to Sea World! My niece was enraged. She sent the tickets back to them, telling them that she did not want them.

And just now watching the Shamu cam, I think she had it all right.

I told my sister they would have been better off sending her a coupon for a free 12-pack of beer.

1 Comments:

Mamacita Tina said...: Oh my gosh, your 9 year old niece is smarter than most adults I know. She's awesome!; 5:49 PM

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I'm a mom of three peeps ... Queen Bee, The Door Man, and the Chandelier Monkey, and wife to Ace, the Helpful Hardware Man. I created this space to get away from the people known as my inlaws, and because life with three kids and a hubby is all Unexplored Territory.

The nine-year-old who seems to be growing older every minute, has an opinion and a comment for everything, and has a true servant's heart.

The seven-year-old who loves the organization of things, will someday be someone's therapist because of his kind soul, and will more than likely be living with us until he is 40 years old.

The five-year-old with the 13-year-old attitude, who has a dictator's personality, asks you to watch her all the time and say "hold on" to keep your attention, and will someday come home on the back of some dude's motorcycle with 10 tatts and a body piercing or two.

The man of the house, the fixer of things, the winner of prizes, and the only person in his family to escape the South.