"Eggs" By Greg Hernandez

 "How come when its us, its an abortion, but when its a chicken its an omelet?" George Carlin

Could I stop eating eggs? No more baked goods, energy bars, eggnog, salad dressing, ice cream, pudding, protein shakes, or hard-boiled eggs after a run. Can I change up my diet? Is it possible to remove myself from the consumption network of eggs? I know about industrialized factory farming, how it kills millions of chickens while obtaining their eggs each year.

This visual evidence temporarily traumatized me. Male chicks It caused me to research and investigate the innards of the farming industry. Some people will argue that this practice is a more humane way for the chicks to die. Quick. The conditions in which these animals are grown and slaughtered is despicable and far worse than how they are killed. Now, the worst part was not being shocked at these practices. I found myself reminiscing of other medias that perpetuated the notion of how horrifying our eating habits are because of the dire consequences for animals.

My friend Joslyn had this to say about this video.

 "After this went viral on FB, horrified people were saying that they'll never eat chicken nuggets again. That's good, but these male baby chicks are not killed to be made into nuggets. They're killed simply because they serve NO purpose. This video was part of an undercover investigation at a hatchery/breeding facility in Iowa. Only the females are kept alive in order to breed & make more eggs. When you purchase eggs, this is what you support."

Remember the critically acclaimed animated film, "Chicken Run?" Chicken Run Trailer. It came out in 2000. I loved that film for obvious reasons. However, one reason why I instantly thought about it was how this was one of the earlier films in my life that represented the human race for what we truly are-apathetic, greedy, ruthless and violent creatures without much reason. You root for the chickens against the humans. You are happy when they find a sanctuary by the film's end. Now, I could care less when an animal hunts and kills another. After all that is like going to the supermarket for them. Only instead of dealing with a rush to get to the fastest line, there is a rush to eat the carcass and split before a bigger animal comes to take your meal away. Now, if you miss out on the sale, it may be a while before you manage to find another super market, understand?

For personal reasons I enjoy it when human beings are the "bad guys." Sure, there are plenty of good people out there, but the bad ones have a propensity to cause more harm, noise and warfare. To go the more subtle route, I always had this thought floating in my mind-how would we feel if a superior species came to Earth, beat us in a global war, enslaved us, and then wanted to use, abuse, and eat us? Imagine a world where behaving in an obsequious manner toward the new superior species is the only means of survival. Imagine being cultivated. You cry out for help, but cannot be understood. A majority of this new species does not care about our pain. They display few amounts of empathy. Imagine being bred in the worst conditions possible. These thoughts resurfaced after watching that first video last night.

I believe humor is an immense aspect of coping with the calamities in life. Like Bukowski once said, either get drunk, laugh, or kill yourself. I'd rather get drunk and laugh. I have all of the respect in the world for comedians. George Carlin bit on abortion is simply iconic.George Carlin-Pro-life, Abortion, Sanctity of Life.

I guess for me, what it comes down to is the reality of it all. Human beings, are not after all designed to eat meat. I do not need to eat any meat. Perhaps I could become a vegetarian. No burgers, chicken, fish, lamb, steak. If I'm starving on a deserted island some day I'll hunt a peacock, roast it over a fire and eat it with gusto like Harrison Ford in Six days, Seven nights.

 I joked with my friend about wanting cake some day. She said sure, I'll use plenty of eggs.