A friend stopped in unannounced yesterday and was taken aback to the point of appalled that I’d taken on a dog like BeeBee. His comments’ effect on me surprised me for two quite opposite reasons. My immediate response was to lash out at him for his anti-canine comments because Bee and her problems have become such a normal part of my life I’ve already forgotten that others might not see her the same way I do. Fortunately, I realized that this was my problem not his and didn’t say anything I’d later regret. Whew!
But after he left (after offering Bee a biscuit she tried frantically to grab but couldn’t because her short lower jaw wouldn’t permit it), I got to thinking about normal again. People will spend hundreds and even thousands of dollars for purebred animals carrying known potential for all sorts of serious problems and they and others will view these animals as quite normal and even superior. Even when those problems manifest, when hips give out, discs slip, retinas detach, cardiac muscles degenerate, or paralysis renders immobile , these dogs remain protected by that broader human perception that they’re normal because they were born normal.
BeeBee will never have that. The most she can aspire to (or I can aspire to for her) is that she might pass for normal so her appearance doesn’t cause people to reveal parts of themselves they, and I admit I, would rather not know exist.