When my mom started school she had a tendency to be left handed. Every time the teacher saw a kid writing with their left hand, they got rapped severely on the knuckles. The children were obliged to use their right hand. Many of these kids who were forced to change were almost ambidextrous throughout their lives.
Anyone who ever brought the milk cows in for milking and tried to make a cow stand on the side of the stall, (most old cow barns had double stalls where two cows stood, one on the right and one on the left) tried to force a cow to go to the right side of the milking parlour when she preferred the left side, or got kicked by a cow who was standing on the wrong side when they tried to milk her; understands that even cows prefer one side or the other.
All animals perform better when all stress is removed. If a cow is forced to stand on the wrong side when being milked, she may not give you that last couple pounds of milk. If she is milked three times a day, seven days a week, that lost milk of a dozen cows could buy the kids hot lunch at school or a nice bottle of wine when you take your partner out for supper.
I once listened to a dairy facility design specialist who told us that when we designed a cattle handling facility, the cow should never be forced to make a sharp left turn because the ruminant’s large stomach is on the left and if it is very full, it will hurt her to make a sharp left turn. Even knowing this, some cows prefer turning left.
Throughout history, many wars have been fought and thousands of lives lost because one side tried to force the other to accept their way.
In Ireland the fights were over religion. In Quebec the dispute was over language. WWII was because one race thought that they were superior to all others. The U.S. Civil War was fought because one race was considered inferior by some.
Recently one professional sports player was let go because he knelt and prayed to his God before going on the field. At a game during the singing of the national anthem, a player held up a fist as a gesture for presumed inequality against one race. A world leading politician expressed publically that anyone acting in this manner should be fired. The following day, hundreds of athletes from all over that country expressed publically their displeasure to the words spoken by that political leader.
In past years, some politicians believed you could divide and conquer if you chose the winning side.
A well-known saying goes, ‘you are never too old to learn.’ But some seem to be much older than others when they do.
Animals have taught me that it’s often easier and more profitable to work with them than to force them to do everything your way. Grandpa told me: “you catch more flies with sugar than with salt.”
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations. gladcrest@gmail.com
