A bookstore cat has died. Fup, of Powells, was 19. Clicking on a link from this morning's "Shelf Awareness," I found an article in the local Portland, Oregon, newspaper and was very saddened to see that the first comment came from a sarcastic reader whose take on the feature was political and dismissive. "Inappropriate?" asked a standard web question about comment content. Well, yes, but not legally.
Why is it "news" that this cat has died? Because Fup was companion of bookstore employees and customers for 19 years, and it is human to mourn the loss of a companion. It is human to pause and acknowledge. It is news in the same way that a change of CEO in a major corporation, a rise of drop in the stock market, a plane crash on the other side of the globe are all news. Life was a certain way yesterday and is now different today. To notice--and to care--is human.
No comments:
Post a Comment