It's Just Roadkill!

Blood and guts on the asphalt. We've all seen it. We've all dodged it and thought we were professionals weaving in and out of cones in those car commercials demonstrating maneuverability. Right?

I, myself, have never been the cause of a splattered or flattened creature in the middle of the road. But I see it all the time and think, "Poor little dumb animal". It's weird how animals don't have the ability to foresee consequences. Hell, I know some adults who aren't so good at it. But I digress. I say this to say that mother nature has simply not equipped some animals with the defense mechanisms necessary to survive man's technological advances. I'm mainly speaking of guns and cars. Again, hell, there are some people who can't seem to avoid death related to those inventions.

You know what's crazy? I've been guilty of feeling worse about some animals being killed than I have some people. What in the hell did a cute, furry, beady-eyed, fluffy tail squirrel ever do to deserve to have its little body mod-podged to the asphalt? Who the hell did Rocky the Squirrel ever hurt? What negative energy has the squirrel put out into the universe to have it come back to him ten-fold? Does karma even apply to animals?

Just this past weekend I went home to Detroit after attending a seminar about identifying and owning your values, setting goals, and planning. I was feeling lighter than air. I was totally in the moment. Enjoying life: all the city sounds, even the hot humid air, smiling and waving at the bums, all while making my way deep east to the uglier side of Detroit. Home sweet home to me.

"Hmm...is that roadkill? I'ont never see no roadkill in the city. This ain't the back roads in Ohio", I thought to myself. Much to my dismay, it was indeed roadkill. The human kind.

A human corpse in the middle of the street. This is not uncommon. What was so uncommon was that there was no police caution tape this time. No gawking crowd. And traffic actually flowed. Since I've left home for college, my mama has called me a few times telling me of the dead bodies that lie in the turning lanes sometimes for hours. Truth is, we were all pretty numb about it. It's sad. We've seen so much death, violence, and drug abuse that it almost becomes the norm. We are desensitized, asleep. Zombies.

Wait. In defense of Detroiters, I think maybe they assume someone else already called the police. I admit, I made it all the way home before I took any action. And my action was simply going, "Hey y'all...there's another dead body in the turning lane." And that was after I brought my bags in, made a sandwich, and texted my new love interest.

Many times while behind the wheel I've thought of swerving a bit to hit those stupid pedestrians. It infuriates me when people just step out into the street illegally, assuming that my brakes are in tip top shape and my suspension finely tuned. How do they even know I'm sober? I sometimes think of it as a video game where I could rack up points by running people over. A hundred points for skinny people, 500 points for fat people, and 10,000 points for groups of 5 or more. But I snap out of it. I'm conscious, thoughtful, and responsible.

To be continued...