Penguins vs. Seals

If you're reading the title of this post and thinking that today I've chosen to write about the rivalry between the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins and the California Golden Seals, man you're old. They last played on March 13, 1976 (a 4-2 win for Pittsburgh).

But this post does have something to do with age and generations.

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting my eldest daughter in Vancouver (beautiful place, lousy hockey team). While there, one of her good friends invited us over for a dinner party and I found myself in a room with some really nice 23-29-year olds.

Somehow, at some point in the evening, the topic of seals came up. Suddenly, I was confronted by a prejudice of which I had theretofore been unaware. At least one of my daughter's friends HATED seals. Seals! Seals? How can anyone hate seals?

I was aghast. Seals are my favourite.

As a child, I spent long hours at the zoo watching the seals. Whatever weather, whatever time of year, seals were one of the few animals that would be active, playful, fun, engaging, and engaged. Bumbling idiots on the land, and sleek, graceful and majestic entertainers underwater. My spirit animal? Maybe. (Although I was always a bumbling idiot in the water - because my parents never bothered to teach me to swim as a child - and sleek graceful and majestic on land).

Later in life, when I first got out to San Francisco, I saw mounds of seals at Pier 39 lying one on top of each other, soaking up the warm summer sun, occasionally barking their pleasure at the world. I remember thinking to myself at the time, "What other animal enjoys the simple life as much? Why can't I kick back and take that much pleasure in being with my peeps and just loving life?"

So what did this kid have against seals?

I asked.

In 2005 (when some of these people in the room were 12-ish) March of the Penguins debuted. 

The following year gave us Happy Feet.

For these kids, at a young and impressionable age, the movies were teaching them that seals were "horrible and evil" creatures (to paraphrase the person to whom I was speaking that evening).

Now, I love penguins too. They too, at the zoo as a child, were a go-to animal for me any time of year. They too, bumbled on land and flourished underwater. They too entertained. They too seemed to be generally happy with their lot in life (although I of course recognize that zoos shouldn't be their lot in life and they probably hate it).

But I never EVER thought of penguins as the good guys and seals as the bad guys just because some seals enjoy the occasional penguin. Penguins eat fish, don't they? If seals are villains because they eat penguins, shouldn't one also conclude that penguins are villains because they eat fish? Or don't fish count?

I say we retreat from vilifying animals for doing what they must to survive. And instead, let's look at ourselves - humankind - and our seemingly innate tendency to pick sides, to get righteously indignant about the behaviour of one side or the other, and to hate for no good reason at all.

Love thy penguin. Love thy seal. Love life.

Condemn those who hate wherever you encounter them. They are the villains, not the seals. And certainly not the donkeys or the elephants (look it up).

(And no, daughter's friend, I don't mean to imply that you're a villain of any sort. I thought you were sweet and a great friend to my daughter. I loved dinner and enjoyed the company. Sorry you have a shitty bottle opener. I meant to buy you a new one but the weather in Vancouver was lousy and I was only there a couple of days so I didn't get everything done that I wanted to. Your pal...David.)