March 2010 — The Marionette

I know I’m smiling but I can’t quite look you in the eye.

I say I’m glad you elected to have the surgery. The rest is left unsaid. It’s better that way. The conversation is implied. There are too many pitfalls if we get into the details. I don’t need to say I know it seems a little strange at first. I don’t need to say but, trust me. I’m a doctor. I don’t need to say I’ve had it done myself, you know. I don’t need to say it’s the only way to go if you want to eat meat these days. If you’ve showed up in my office we both know precisely why you’re here.

You just can’t live without it. I understand. We were raised like that and it’s hard to change your ways.

For a while, as the climate changed and meat got scarce, we just tightened our belts in other places and cut down a bit on portion size. But then the oceans went barren. A few droughts thinned out the already thinning herds. Things got bad. Suddenly, you couldn’t afford a steak unless you had a couple thousand dollars in your pocket. For a while you saved your money. Treated yourself now and then. Soon, couldn’t even afford that. You became a vegetarian out of pure financial necessity. But when you stared down at your broccoli you always thought about it. Couldn’t get the smell out of your nostrils. Phantom flavors haunted your tongue. At night, sleeping next to your wife, you dreamed you found her steaming on your plate.