Ants and Saturo

I no longer see ants as opportunistic house pests bent on seeking out the last crystal of spilled sugar, the last crumb of toast, the last sliver of rice. I used to just squeeze them all to death with one sweep of my arm, hardly what you would call proportionate use of force in Geneva convention "rules of war" talk. And then, after 30 odd years of conditioning and reinforcement, all it took was a casual "eh don't do that" from my friend for me to make that leap in consciousness. I no longer see them as vermin to be exterminated with extreme prejudice, but of the nature of how things are and how things will always be. Ants have been for millions of years , and will continue for millennia to come, interested in gathering food. Ants, at the very worst, show you that perhaps you should have cleaned up after eating. I now no longer feel the need to commit mass murder and to hunt "those buggers down". I now simply remove the food, and the ants will go on their merry way somewhere else, where there is food. Why I have never felt this before, and why suddenly it became crystal clear, is really amazing.

My small, little, Saturo moment.