Set Them Free
There are old ladies walking around the streets of Chiang Mai selling the freedom of small birds. The ladies have round straw baskets, each containing three birds. When I see this, I cannot resist setting them free.
They chirp excitedly when I open the basket, and they fly away. I wish I could set all the birds free, but it costs too much.
(Note: Buddhists believe that showing kindness to small animals brings good karma.)
6 comments
This is awesome, Conor! I feel certain that one day your good karma will bring a large bird with curiously agile talons to set you free from a tiny round basket.
Your a good man Connor James!
Sorry I spelled you name wrong:-(
Once again Conor nails it.
Conor, I LUVVVVV the economy of your expression. Not a word more or less than the essential. This little/big story has the delicacy, expansion & wisdom of haiku.
Not to be a scrooge…. but the truth is that when you purchase the “freedom” of these birds, you are only encouraging this bad practice of caging these poor creatures. After you free them, the birds are soon re-captured by the same sales people (or the birds are trained to return).
To truly support the birds, you are better off not rewarding the sellers by “purchasing” their “freedom”. Instead, just keep walking and put your money to something more helpful (like the Elephant Nature Park in your next blog!).
Again…sorry to be the bearer of bad news — just thought you should know the Truth!