Over the past month there have been several hate crimes and racial discrepancies in American society. As odd as it is, not until I had a humorous debacle with a raccoon this past week did I realize my response to such degrading behavior. The raccoon did not reveal an answer that will fix society’s problems, but he did provide a new perspective that will help me, and possibly others, be more loving when maneuvering through these social issues.
I was home alone one weekend and for anyone who knows me that’s a scary thought. As my mom prepared to leave, she could have scolded me on my inability to take care of the house, but instead she set aside the usual for one demand, “Make sure you close the garage door.” After the seventh time of her reminding me I frustratedly said “Mom I’m not going to forget!” But as fate would have it, I forgot. My mom left on Thursday, I did not remember until Saturday at 11:00 at night, and all the while the garage door sat wide open. So, Saturday night, after a long hard working day and a low key meal, I finally went to close the garage door. However, there was something blocking it from successfully shutting all the way and, annoyed, I went to remove the blockage. As I hurdled over the pile of boxes and made my way to the impeding bag I made a lot of ruckus and in response to that ruckus there was a slight scurrying noise. I froze. I don’t think I made that sound. I turned around to face the entirety of the garage and hunched over under a cabinet in a fearful heap were two raccoons. My first thought was, how did they get in here? And then I realized that I had left open a gaping hole the size of two cars and face palmed at my carelessness. I closed the garage door to ensure it was working and then I tried reopening it so I could release the creatures; but my closing of the door was such a success it would no longer open. Well, crap.
Preparing for my visitors sleep over, I removed the dog food and bird seed from the vicinity so they could not feast on the delectables. The bag of bird seed was rather heavy and when I sat it down in the house, from the bag’s opening emerged a massive furry ball that shot outwards to scurry across the hardwood floor into the darkness of the dining room, “AHHHHH!” Oh my god I just let a raccoon into the house! I stood for a moment in shock and then slowly proceeded towards the room of blackness that had a creature awaiting my arrival. I side stepped inch by inch carefully towards the light switch and then flick! The room was lit, all was to be seen, and the raccoon was just chilling on a side table staring at me! I took a picture (posted it on snapchat of course) and then sent it to my mom letting her know we had a new pet. I was excited; I could finally achieve my goal of petting a raccoon!
While I awaited for my mom to respond, I knew I had to take some form of action. I have been told by several that raccoons are well-known for having rabies and being vicious creatures; in order to avoid that behavior, I made my guest feel comfortable. Like any normal person, I started singing to the raccoon a lovely tune about how he and I were going to be the best of friends. I even fed him some bird seed so he could eat while he enjoyed the entertainment. Slowly his body became less tense while his eyes stopped following my every move. After a while, I paused from my singing to take a closer look at the raccoon, and he was asleep! I was confused how to approach the situation when my mom called me, “Get that raccoon out of my house!”
“I’m working on it mom! But he’s asleep right now!”
“What?! Just push him in a box and take him out of the house!”
“No, mom! I don’t want to scare him!” Then as the raccoon’s body drooped from the drowsiness, he fell over the side of the table and onto the floor! I lost it, laughing my head off! “What happened?! What’s going on?! Are you okay?!” my mom questioned. I was too hysterical to tell her, I mean I just witnessed a sleeping raccoon lazily falling from a side table; that’s not a regular thing to see! The raccoon was wide eyed and startled, trying to claw at anything to save him from his fall, but after he hit the ground he immediately went back up to the comforts of his resting post. He looked at me almost checking to see if I saw this embarrassing episode unfold. After me witnessing his shameful fall and he seeing my irrational fear of him, we had both seen the other vulnerable. Thus, the mood was set for my moment of glory. I told my mom I had a raccoon to deal with, hung up on her, and looked directly into the eyes; the soul of the raccoon. I slowly reached my hand towards him, nervous for what might happened. Our eyes were locked, he was watching my movements, I was watching his. My hand came inches from his nose, then centimeters, then a hair lengths away. Our faces were still as can be, unchanging, both anticipating the next movement. After one last breath my hand touched fur, there was a slight jerk on his end, but that was it. I pet a raccoon! My goal for the night was accomplished, I didn’t care what happened afterwards! However, after further pestering from my mother and my sister, I eventually decided it was time to part with my new friend. I opened all the doors in the house and directed him outside to freely live out the remainder of his life.
Petting the raccoon that night made me feel on top of the world. Though every time I tell the story I get scolded because of how dangerous raccoons are. I’m not ignorant, I’ve seen movies with raccoon attacks. Thinking more deeply, these remarks showcase the faults of human behavior; the remarks are just generalized statements inappropriately applied to a particular situation. People are great at generalizing a group and securing it as fact. However, while this system helps us classify things, it has its faults. The raccoon’s behavior was wrongly generalized because he was seen within the context of a species and not as an individual creature. Since I viewed him as an individual creature, ignored the stereotype, and made an effort to understand his behavior, I was able to pet him without any consequences. This philosophy relates to society. African Americans are often classified as thugs and Muslims are often deemed terrorists because of generalizations of the group and not observations of the individual. However, it is the individual that we encounter daily and thus it is the individual that we need to learn about and understand. Generalizations are irrelevant, the particular is what matters and it is the particular that should determine our actions. Follow this and you too may one day be able to pet a raccoon.
