When asked to explore the mechanisms of an animal shelter, I was hesitant to visit one but knew I had to provide credibility to the assignment. I was so nervous that I coerced a friend to come with me to the Baltimore Animal Rescue and Care Shelter, Inc., or BARCS, the closest shelter near me. I didn’t want to see dogs in need of a home or a family, let alone animals in kennels. Why stop by for what would inevitably be an upsetting experience?
As a child, when my mother would defend the healthy meals she served us by reciting “you are what you eat,” I pictured myself as a jug of milk with curly broccoli for hair. Thank goodness the images conjured up by the mind of a child weren’t real! Otherwise, during my college years, my poor mother would have fainted to see me morph into a can of soda with Cheetos and French fries for arms and legs.