The Merands

…and it was too good for me not to re-post :)
it’s in response to this article: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Feministing/~3/4bajsU_GFtU/018179.html

-D

i understand that college degrees are important and that debt is a serious hardship for some people of my generation because of student loans. this is why i chose to attend an extremely cheap state school and therefore come out of undergrad with two degrees, debt-free thanks to a simple part-time job. i then attended the grad school that gave me a full ride, and i would not have gone at all if no school had given me funding. while i recognize that people who have the goal of being a doctor, for example, NEED to go to grad school before they can make headway into their carrers, i have a lot of trouble feeling sorry for people who are in mountains of debt for having chosen to attend expensive colleges for what one might call less salient reasons. please – and i mean this honestly – help me to better understand the need for our society’s collective sympathy and assistance for people with student loan debt. i feel like if more people prioritized their post-college financial health, then the more expensive schools would be forced to lower costs in order to attract students – at least somewhat. this is a case in which supply and demand really might matter, at least to a degree (no pun intended). trust me, i would definitely have preferred to attend nyu or sarah lawrence; i just didn’t want to be in debt forever. and my goals really have not been hindered as a result. i know that some people go into debt with their eyes wide open, but i can’t feel terribly sorry for people who don’t and then feel surprised later when their art history degrees are not paying off their debts.

Olive’s favorite toy right now is a ten-inch diameter plastic ball. There’s nothing special at all about this ball. It’s made of hard plastic that she can’t bite through, so really all she can do is push it around.

At least, that’s what it seems like to us humans. To Olive, this ball represents the apex of dog toy technology. She is completely mesmerized by the idea of a large object that she can’t chew, upon which a grip is near-impossible, and which is easy enough to roll around the back yard (or inside the house, as we found out one time. Her cries of joy (which sound remarkably like the noise she would make to bite the legs off an intruder) echo through the neighborhood, and she will do anything to please us in return for some time with the red ball.

Initially the game was a bit unfocused – I let her chase the ball around the yard, and would reprimand her (usually by having to physically pick her up and move her) if she chased the ball “out of bounds”. This was a little bit frustrating for both of us, so I’m glad that we’ve moved on from that stage. The stage we’re in now is much more sophisticated. All I need to say is “stop!” and she’ll immediately stop playing and look at me, and (usually) sit down. Also, if she runs the ball into my feet or up to the edge of the yard, she’ll (usually) stop. That’s what I’m talking about!

So the game is slightly different for her than it is for me. For her the rules are: play where you want in bounds, and listen to what Donald wants you to do. The rules for me are: be in the proper location so that instead of having to tug on her leash to keep her out of bounds, you can be “goalie” and catch the ball and kick it out of bounds. Everybody likes playing soccer better than tug-of-war with their dog, I think. So it’s actually fun for both of us, which is rewarding, because so few dog games can really be that way.