Seriously? It's a fish.

So, I came up with this super-cool idea for our church carnival. A booth with glass bowls. The kids try to get a ping pong ball into the glass jars. If they get one in, they win....a goldfish! We were going to be the talk of the carnival. I was so excited...and I got Hubs excited, too.

I went to Petco today to see if they could make sure to have 100 goldfish in stock next Wednesday so I could pick them up. As I was talking to the salesman, he asked...

"These are going to be used for humane purposes, right?"

"Uh, yeah," I chuckled.

"Ok. Sorry, but we just have to ask that to make sure you aren't going to give them away as prizes or anything."

Wait. What? How is that inhumane? I remained silent; I didn't want to give myself away. Instead, I came home to investigate that statement further. Sure enough, it is widely considered inhumane to give out goldfish as prizes - it is even illegal in some countries...and it is possible that some US cities prohibit it.

Okay, so finding 100 goldfish in our town presented an issue. Finding 100 glass jars presented an even bigger issue. But never did I forsee this issue. On one website I read,


"My little cousin’s elementary is giving away goldfish at a school carnival Friday. I’m outraged. I wrote to PETA but was wondering if it was illegal so I could try to stop them in time? I know those little brats are going to use them as water balloons and that most of them aren’t going to go out and buy the proper equipment or food to care for them. It’s horrible!"


Excuse me? Not only are we concerned for the life of a goldfish, but we prefer goldfish over school children ("brats"). Do you see something wrong here?


Now, you all know that I have Pups. And furthermore, you know that I love him, that I am completely attached, and that both Hubs and I would do a lot to keep him alive and happy. He has become part of our family and you really don't understand that until you actually have a dog. But never. ever. would I put him above a human life. Ever. Ever.


I guess what bothers me about this is that it is extreme. I mean, I love animals; but I am totally cool with hunting deer because they are over-populated. I believe in protecting animals; but I am definitely not going to be a vegetarian. I believe God tells us to take care of animals; but we have plenty of goldfish in the world and if a few more get flushed down the toilet...so be it.


But instead of just taking care of animals to a reasonable degree, we protect them more than we protect unborn children. We lash out against those killing animals for food; but yet let crazy people beat children. We worry about the population of unwanted pets in the pound; but let the orphans and foster care children go unnoticed.


But, back to the carnival. I guess the goldfish idea is out. I have 1 week to come up with something equally as cool; yet not involving animals.


Any ideas?