Beached Whale

I've always wanted to see a beached whale.

Not because I am sadistic.

If you want to see what separates the human race from the animal kingdom, find a beached whale.

Empathy will crowd that beach looking for a way to help that whale set back to sea.


Just, so the Japanese can slaughter it later.


I took a little boy to the zoo about 15 years ago.  He was a boy who was a semi-celebrity.  He made the local news because his alcoholic uncle had a bad habit of hanging this boy by his feet from the ceiling whenever he was drunk.  As the boy dangled helplessly, the boy was used as a punching bag.

The child's parents had been killed the previous year.  He was left in the custody of his uncle.  Once the abuse became known, he was put into the custody of different relatives.

He was eight years old.

This girl I knew was asked to babysit him one Saturday.  She called me and asked me to go to the zoo with the both of them.

So, off we went.

He was a precocious kid; always asking questions.

As we were finishing our day at the zoo, our last stop was an enclosure with turtles.  Really, there wasn't much to see.  Turtles just kind of sit there.  But I played the role of Saturday afternoon dad and looked interested.

As he stood there in awe of these mundane creatures, he started crying.

And then he pointed.

"That turtle is on its back.  We must help him", he cried.

"Hurry!  He's going to die".

You want see a grown man cry, put him in the company of an abused boy as he exhibits empathy for another creature.

Eventually, we called a zookeeper over and she kindly turned the helpless turtle back onto its' feet.

The little boy clapped.

It's an image in my head I will never forget.


I've always wanted to see a beached whale.  It's like a helpless turtle but on a larger scale.

Someone asked me earlier tonight if I believed there was good in everyone.  I had to think about it for awhile.

I know she asked me this because she, like that little boy, grew up in an abusive situation.  The boy was physically abused.  She was sexually abused.

When I talk with her, it feels like I am staring at a beached whale.  And for some reason, she sees me as someone who is capable of setting her back out to sea.

Do I think there is good in everyone?

I do know we have the empathetic abilities to save a stranded whale but we also have the needless ability to slaughter that same whale.

I never answered her question.  Because I don't have one.