Rocky and Rambo Meet the Exterminator

Last night one of my girlfriends and I went out to face the USDA Deer Exterminators. We rode around the neighborhood checking the cull bait, making noise with air horns and genuinely bothering the sharpshooters.  We were Rocky and Rambo (not to be confused with Rocky and Bullwinkle). Defenders of the defenseless.  Protector of the Deer.  And we were not alone.  Right before dark, Atlanta FOX Channel 5 came out to do continuing coverage of the slaughter.  While they get almost no story right, they do take pictures and show that there is a very vocal and quite large constituency of people who dislike the process.   That's two night in a row that everyone in Atlanta got a chance to see something besides carjacking, burglary and drive-by shootings.  We had hoped for PETA but found out they only do naked celebrity events. Over the hill, white women with small dogs and air guns do not pull out the national news stations.  Earlier in the day I had stopped and talked with one of the young shooters and offered caramel cake as a peace offering but despite my friendly demeanor, the cute guy had declined my offer. I told him that I did not object to hunting and in fact half my family has Lyme disease.  He finally did smile.  The only negative was a run in with some talking heads who have their talking points down like seasoned veterans of politics.  You say "but the deer where not sick" and they say "yet" and at the same time.  Then they have to nerve to tell me  "that you don't have a right to be mad or upset now because you weren't vocal enough the last time there was a cull in the neighborhood". Since when can't a grown up learn more and become better informed and change their minds and more importantly "see the light".  I especially resent this talking point because it goes against everything I believe about maturity. I also used to like shoulder pads in my clothes and bell bottoms on my jeans.  And big hair.  Halter tops. Things change.  I grew up.  Earlier in the day I had received an email for a guy I have not seen in over l5 years. Not kissed in over 30.  He remembered me as the person I was then, the fun, strong person that I had been.  He told me about me.  All this has reminded me of who I am.  I am not the events that have happened to me in my life. I am not the lies I have been told, the betrayal I have felt or even the abandonment I have experienced.  If  I allow what has happened in my life to determine who I am, I will loose my true self and never be the person I am or really want to be.   I am Rocky.  I am Rambo.  I am a fighter.  Many of our deer will die during this cull, but less will die in the future because people do "see the light" and they have plenty of air horns at Walmart.