This expression probably comes from the olden days when hunters would take to the wild to bring home the bacon (to use another Americanism) – and if one shot oneself in the foot, that probably meant the hunter and his family would go hungry that night.
These days you don’t go out with a loaded gun unless you live in the hood and you are either hip-hop or plain stupid. But we all do things that are stupid at times, and then end up metaphorically with our toes blown off. As people and as nations, we choose to engage in risky behavior that leave us hurt and hungry – or worse.
This week I found myself thinking about how we here in the “Doo” seem to be walking around with machine guns, shooting every foot in sight. The slaughter of innocent feet came to mind after reading a few articles about Nepal currently in the international and local news...
First was an article in a UK publication that went on for a page about how the Everest region in our fair & lovely country has become a “trash pit” and an ecological disaster waiting to become worse. The article was complete with a photo of some trekking trail’s open waste pit, filled with Wai-Wai wrappers, water bottles, and a few bones of unknown origin poking out.
The second report was about one of our prime tourist attractions, Bhaktapur, and how local officials there were throwing around chunks of meat laden with strychnine in hopes of curbing the community dog population. I’m guessing that is what they are intending, but it seems to me that they are just trying to kill us all, and to use that same Americanism, to shoot us all in the foot. This would include the feet of dogs, cows, birds and babies living in the area.
It’s bad enough that we toss our cigarette butts and empty biscuit wrappers on the ground, but now we have someone in the government throwing poison directly onto our open areas and into whatever nature we have left. And since strychnine poisoning can be fatal to humans and animals alike – strychnine can be inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through the eyes – this form of shooting one’s self in the foot is very effective, and much more painful than a shotgun blast.
It’s bad enough that we toss our cigarette butts on the ground, but now we have someone in the government throwing poison directly onto our open areas.
You know you have been poisoned when visiting Bhaktapur if you start up chucking like mad, fall into convulsions, and then have your lungs painfully restrict until you asphyxiate. Likewise, you can probably observe community dogs in the same state, and after feasting on the dead dogs, you might even get a glimpse of one of Nepal’s species of scavenger birds doing the same. Then there are the roaming wild cows that will eat anything left on the road, and in Bhaktapur you might find one with its eyeballs popping out after having dinner.
As the last of the monsoon rains wash strychnine into our dharas, we might even hear the sad news of human catastrophe – from contaminated pillowcases and boxer shorts. If this happens to you Dear Tourist, please note that swallowing lots of activated charcoal and drinking lots of strong Nepali tea may pull you through. For the convulsions, just soak a clean rag (not one washed at the dhara) in chloroform, and hold that tightly over your nose and mouth until you pass out.
The first 24 hours are the hardest.
Well, I suppose none of the above is going to make its way into NTB’s 2011-2012 Travel Brochure, but this is “news you can use.” My one concern is that dogs, cows and birds can’t read. So what can we do to help them? I suggest going to the online petition set up to show your support for stopping this insanity, and hopefully giving me something more cheerful to write about next time.
See www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-dog-poisoning-nepal
Herojig is quirky kinda expat who happily lives in Kathmandu with family, friends and a very hungry dog, who will gulp down poisoned meat in Bhaktapur if given half a chance
herojig@gmail.com
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