Watered-down Messages

Where does a 20lb Maine Coon cat drink? Anywhere he wants.
Where does a 20lb Maine Coon cat drink? Anywhere he wants.

Like millions of other Americans and a few Europeans still confused about the name of game, I watched Super Bowl Sunday – or at least most of it. It was too bad the end devolved from a football game into a “What’s Manning gonna do with the rest of his life?” free-for-all. For a few minutes I wondered if we were ever gonna be told what the last penalty flag was all about. Turned out it just a way to finish the game painlessly.

But really now, that’s not what the game is all about. The reason we tune in to begin with is this years new crap crop of commercials. We weren’t disappointed. It was a pleasing conglomeration of cute children (Looks like Denver maternity wards better gear up), cute singing sheep and dog announcers. Even the aliens were benevolent albeit a little mis-interpretive.

There were some serious messages too. I’m not sure this was a national spot so you may not have seen it, but its did its best to guilt us by saying we should shut off the water while we brush our teeth. It went further on to say something like four minutes of running water would give water to a third world family for a week. Don’t quote me on those statistics I was still giggling about the talking dog announcer on the truck commercial.

Now… I never claim to be “Green”. I recycle plastics, glass, cardboard and most of my un-shredded paper. But I live six miles from a drinking water treatment plant that is sourced from one of the largest rivers on the North American continent. Right now the local aquifer is the highest its been in eleven years. We pay a monthly water bill and its generally fairly high but only because we use a lot of water in our hobbies. Plants and animals need to be watered. One of my cats got the obnoxious habit at a young age of drinking from the bathroom sink faucet. Even though he doesn’t do it any more the only water bowl he will use is the one next to the sink and it helps if the water is running while he drinks.

Flint, Michigan not withstanding, I would like to know how my using less water is gonna magically move it from the second largest river in North America to the middle of the sub-saharan desert in Africa. Until I hear a knock on the door from someone standing there holding a five gallon bucket asking me to donate, me and the cat are gonna let the sink run as much as we need to.