There are many reasons I don’t live in New York City. Don’t get me wrong. I love city life and all that it affords. But New York is just too big for me. While I think I could make it just about anywhere, I would rather not live there.
A case in point. On Thursday, a man was standing, walking on a sidewalk on Third Avenue in the Bronx. Suddenly, and I mean suddenly, the sidewalk collapsed beneath him. Now, if that were not bad enough, the hole was filled with rats. Big mothers. It was reported that he would not talk while stuck down there, for fear the rats would get in his mouth.
It gets worse. It took 30 minutes for the fire department to get there, and then get him out. A half an hour, in a ten-foot deep hole, with hundreds of rats. He couldn’t move for all of the rats on him.
He told his mother that the size of them was ridiculous, and onlookers reported they were everywhere. He remains hospitalized with head and arm injuries. He’s 33-years-old, by the way. I’d be calling my Mom too.
Now, I love a good slice of pizza. But not that much. In fact, I might not go to NYC again, after hearing this story. Give my regards to Broadway, and tell them all the way to Herald Square.
There are 8.4 million people in New York City. And they don’t need me. And there is an estimated 2 million rats living in that same place. That’s about one rat for every four people.
I’d like to point out that New York City rats are of The Norway Rat variety. While the name “Norway Rats” suggests a certain allure, these are more widely known as common “brown” rats. They are formidable. The average brown rat is 16 inches long and weighs 1 pound. Though, some can grow much bigger and heavier and carry brass knuckles.
These are City Rats. They can do things. They have abilities. Some of these talents include “squeezing through holes the size of a quarter, leaping 4 feet sideways, falling five stories without injury, treading water for three days (adult rats), and chewing through pipes and cinder block.” They like to burrow. And they have high family values, living with around 30 to 50 of their relatives.
Again, I want to be clear on something here. I like rats. They are very smart, and kind of cute, if you don’t see the tail. But I don’t want to be in a hole with hundreds of them crawling all over me.
Another thing comes to mind here. The old story of The City Mouse and The Country Mouse? I’ll jump to the end.
“Good-bye, Cousin,” said the Country Mouse, “What! going so soon?” said the other. “Yes,” he replied, “Better beans and bacon in peace than cakes and ale in fear.”
I can’t help but to see this relation to the United States in the past four years. Our nation has become a place of the City Mouse, where there are dangers around every corner. And by dangers, I mean threats. Threats to equality. Threats to freedoms. Threats to our Constitution. Threats to our environment. And more than anything, a threat in the way of a pandemic that is running wild because there hasn’t been any leadership to fight it.
I long for the nation of the Country Mouse. A place of calm, a place of values and integrity, a place where you can eat your bacon and beans in peace. A place where our Mouse In Chief has a sound mind on his/her shoulders.
I’m tired of the vicious rat hole.
We are well past due for the Pied Piper.
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“The nearer a man comes to a calm mind, the closer he is to strength.”
— Marcus Aurelius
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“Angry people are not always wise.”
― Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
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“Never laugh at live dragons.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien
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The rat race below the surface. Right below.
