I shed a tear or two this morning over another icon of my life being brought down by the winds of change, industry and selfish personal goals…
Sayonara Ringling Brothers and Bailey’s Circus..Hasta luego.. Goodbye to something that was such a dear part of my childhood. Growing up here in Florida, home of the circus, I knew in my heart you could always run away and join the circus.. You really could. Everyone knew if you could only make it to the midget village in Orlando or Sarasota you could join the circus. Jump on with any passing carnival and you would have some experience when you got there.
Not only that, but my other point is that without the circus.. without the zoo.. I would never have laid eyes on a living exotic animal. I have actually petted an elephant. It was behind the tents at Ringling.. I have petted an alligator. It was in a zoo. Will these things never be available to our children in the future? PETA suggests that, and I quote “Instead of going to the zoo, you can learn about animals by watching nature documentaries or observing the animals in their own natural habitats instead”… nice. A child will never grasp the scale of the creatures they see on TV.. never get to lay a hand on them.. and of course, only the well funded, name brand – hand made by small children weavers in some rain forest clothes wearing yuppie scum’s children will be able to afford trips out to the jungle and African Savannah to see these wild creatures “in their own natural habitats”.
PETA forgets most of them learned of these creatures from the zoo and circus as well. They forget, that while they had the opportunity to truly hands on learn about these great beasts, they are destroying the opportunity to do the same for the children of the future.
Of course my mind goes right into another thought which has origins close to home.. What about the freaks? Yes, the freaks. Those who were shunned and kicked out of towns.. beaten and abused until they were taken in by the side shows that traveled within the circuses and carnivals. What about them? Are they not as important as these animals if not more so? Here in Florida there is a town established by the circus for the sideshow employees. Here the bearded woman and the world’s fattest man could retire in peace and care. Here the four armed girl could sleep in peace…
There are no freak shows in Ringling Brothers now a days.. in fact it’s been a very long time since they had one. Coney Island fell under attack in the late 1990’s.. McDonald’s wanted their spot.. The old freak show which was once a misunderstood haven for those unwanted by society has been taken over by the mainstream. All a freak is now is a guy with no job, purple hair, rings coming out of every body part and he can run a piece of metal wire through his mouth and out his nose.. Yay. Those who are born unlike everyone else are still shunned, still thrown away. There are a lucky few who can make it into the public eye, be held up in some celebrity status.. a few. What about the rest? Human nature has not changed much.. not nearly as much (or as fast) as the world we call home now. It seems some times we have even reverted back to our old “witch burning” ways..
People. Be real. Be Inquisitive but Unintrusive.. Preserve things for our future generations and remember that they may want to experience those same things that brought wonder and discovery to your mind as well.