What If Aliens Came to Visit?
It started with the dogs
While out walking the other day I noticed a man and his dog in “poop mode”. That is when the human is standing near a pooping dog whilst holding a plastic bag.
Over the years I have often witnessed “poop mode”. This man, and others like him, would wait and then clean up after his dog was done. As there are no trash cans in the country, he would likely be holding the “hot” mess until they got home.
(Side note…shame on those who don’t pick up the poop. Ok! Tirade over! )
Suddenly, I had this weird thought. To an uninformed viewer, it might look like the dogs were in charge and we were their servants.
Although, I suppose, in some ways we are.
Makes no sense
That got me thinking about who would be the most uninformed viewer possible. Someone who had absolutely zero understanding of our world and how it functions. Aside from a newborn baby, the only answer I could logically come up with would be…ALIENS.
With my “extensive” knowledge of other species, based solely on television and film, I am imagining that there are probably 3 kinds of extra-terrestrial visitors:
-Those that have come to take over the planet.
-Those that have come to ogle us because they are 10000x times smarter and cannot believe how primitive we are.
-And drive-by visitors.
Humans do so many strange things!
If we ever did have intelligent, evolved visitors from other galaxies pop over for a quick peek then they would really be confused. There are so many things that humans do that would probably make little or no sense.
-Hurting/killing each other would be the first thing. Hunting for food would probably make sense but what about randomly shooting each other in the street?
-Fighting over resources maybe, but this planet has so much(albeit not evenly divided).
-Abusing our children. How would mistreating our descendants benefit our future in any way?
-Destroying nature…or just the world, in general, would be another. It goes back to the “our future” question.
-Littering would seem selfish and counterintuitive. Why destroy our planet with waste? And really! How hard is it to pick something up?
-Polluting the oceans…our food is there why would we make it so dirty and full of plastic and chemicals?
-Fighting wars…human politics would seem so counterproductive…so me versus them instead of what would benefit the collective.
What would be their take away?
Frankly, if I was part of an advanced species and I witnessed all of this, I would think that it was an experiment gone horribly wrong.
I would probably recommend hitting the restart button.
You know. Take the planet back to the time of the amoebas and try again.
But don’t forget the good stuff!
Hopefully right before they push “the button” they would look a little closer and see all of the beauty and wonder that gets overshadowed by the ugliness. The amazing stuff that doesn’t make the news because it isn’t scintillating enough.
-A child taking it’s first step and the look of joy on their parent’s face
-The wonder of a wild animal baby struggling and then succeding at walking mere minutes after birth
-The beauty of sunrises and sunsets
-The smell of fresh made bread or bagels wafting out of a bakery door
-A group of people coming together to save a dog trapped in a well
-A forest of evergreens covered with snow
-The site of thousands of people dancing at an outdoor music festival
And so much more…
My takeaway
Every day it seems there is another reason to be depressed about the state of the world. The ugliness just seems to be everywhere and it is so loud! Politics, wars, abuse, discrimination, violence, pollution…
And yet…there are so many reasons to have hope. So many people fighting to make it better. Whether it is the women protesting in Iran or the firefighters wrapping General Sherman in aluminum blankets. Whether it is Deep Blue Cleanup scooping plastic out of the ocean or someone offering a home to a displaced family from a war-torn nation.
All of this makes its own sort of noise. It isn’t as loud. But, much like classical music, which my Uncle Robert said I would one day learn to appreciate,
…it’s sound is beautiful and infectious.
