We all have those days. Even if we LIKE our job, it can weigh down on our nerves and seem, suddenly, too much to ask of an intelligent being. Even I, marzipan meatloaf, who live the thrilling, glamorous life of a blogger, have been known to wish I had a simpler way of making my daily bread. Clipping coupons from Grandma’s stock portfolio, or checking each of the fifteen Swiss bank accounts uncle jasper set up seem much more soothing some days than the exciting life I lead on a daily basis.
You may not be aware that humans are hardly unique in this. Postcard artists have for years chronicled the discontent of the quiet, humble dairy cow. The life looks pretty appealing: wander around in the sun eating buttercups and stand still for a while as a trained professional takes the milk that is, admittedly, weighing you down. Could a cow really ever get tired of so straightforward a career. (There’s the speed dating to make sure milk continues to flow, but I don’t suppose it’s all THAT much worse than an annual performance review._
And yet, cow rebellion is a regular side of farm life. Just about every cow gets annoyed by the business at some point, and a few are downright hostile all the time. It may be something on the buttercups.
Some cows know they’re quicker than their support staff, and can elude capture (particularly if the pursuer is encumbered with bucket and milking stool) for as long as the game is entertaining.
But the veteran cow knows a good swift kick is less trouble. You can frighten or injure the milker and, with luck, knock over the milk pail, making a whole morning’s work into mud.
If the milkstaff is really slow at getting out of the way, this sport can become the stuff of legend (and/or postcard.)
The farmer’s own strategies can be turned against him. And this is a game which is renewed every day. Many the farmer has been amazed by a cow’s ability to come up with new and annoying tricks to keep dairy profits down.
You might think a cow would be a little more careful about this, as there are very few career opportunities available for those who don’t want to keep the cream on its way to market. But perhaps this does not occur to the work-a-day cow.
After all, it is written on the wall of the barn: Old Milk Cows Never Die. They Just…well, you know.
Blogsy Babbles 