Usually when I visit my barber shop, they’ve got Shibani Joshi or Neil Cavuto or some other talking head from the Fox Business Network squawking about the U.S.’s role in the global economy — and I promptly fall asleep. But last time I was there, Mario, my barber, was in charge of the remote (his partner was on vacation), and News 12 Connecticut was cranking. The back of my brain seized on an item about animal activists trying to convince us that we should be calling our dogs and cats “animal companions” instead of “pets.” This piqued my interest.
My first thought: Have the animals been complaining?
My second thought: Why is it that every time we’re coaxed into using a new p.c. term, it always winds up costing us more syllables? I mean — pet? One syllable. An-i-mal com-pan-ion? Six syllables.
But who am I to decide this issue? So I brought the matter to Ricky’s attention. Which do you prefer? I asked him. No reaction whatsoever. Then I offered him one of his favorite Crunchy Treats with Real Carrots. He went nuts.
My conclusion: Animals care way more about what you feed them than what you call them.
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