The Unexpected on Television

Hey everyone out there, this is a blog that I should have uploaded earlier last week, but due to a number of factors, I did not. There will be a longer post talking about my first days of teaching. If I had to guess, it will either be up by Wednesday or Thursday (once I have had all of my classes at least once). Right now though, I want to talk about something that happened the night before Yom Kippur. I will give fair word and fair waring, what I am going to describe may be disturbing to some people. I know it was to me. With my warning now given, I can only say that if you choose to read from here on out, it's all on you.

The night before Yom Kippur, the very last night we were dealing the effects of the typhoon, one of my fellow foreign teachers and I decided to go to dinner together. Rather than go to any of our usual places, we decided to see if there was a restaurant that might be a little bit closer to the back gate of the university (the back gate being the most convenient one for our apartment building). We found a small restaurant where we each ordered a plate of 炒面 (chow mein). It was only then that I looked up and noticed what was on the television, a dog fight.

I am not a member of PETA, nor would any of those that know me well call me the greatest lover of animals. I have been to a number of races with either family or friends and I have placed money down at those races. However, despite my betting on races and relative indifference to most animals, there is a part of me that is...repulsed by the idea of a dog fight. Seeing one on television with at least four or five other patrons of the restaurant watching it is even a less appealing idea. As I do not know how to say "Would you please turn the channel?" in Mandarin and not wanting to cause a scene, I did the only logical thing I could think about doing, I changed my seat so I wouldn't be in eye line of the television easily.

The dogfight was playing in the background for most of our meal. During it, my fellow American teacher and myself had a series of conversations about the ethics of such a thing. My objection is based on when two prize fighters go into a ring, they go in fully knowing and consenting. I doubt dogs in dogfights have such an understanding of what may happen. Logically, I know full well that dog fights happen in America. Hell, there's probably at least one dog fighting ring in San Diego, most likely there are many. However seeing it on a television is something else entirely.

Fortunately, the dog fight was not to the death (I think I would have lost my dinner right there and then if it had been) and was not on broadcast television. It was part of a DVD that also had a number of other things on it. It took a young child of perhaps 8, maybe 9 years to change it to something else, and that was only after the dogfight segment had ended. Although the 炒面at that particular restaurant is very good, the location of the restaurant itself convenient, and the probability of seeing that same event again relatively slim...I don't know if I want to go back. Perhaps I am being a bit too paranoid. Maybe I am making a mountain out of a molehill. Frankly, it's not something I care to think about.