(my apologies for the low quality pic)

Yesterday, I bought a fish. I’ve had many pets before but this was the first animal that I myself purchased. It was a very weird experience. The idea that I have the entitlement  to walk into a store, randomly pick one of the fish who was randomly circling the tank with all of the other fish, and then to take him home with me gave me a weird sense of power, for a lack of better words. I was very aware of my position at the top of the food chain for this little guy, who had no say in why he was chosen or brought home with me. What gives me the right to own him, to call him mine and have other humans look at him as my “property?”

Even with all of these questions and misgivings, I am still more than excited to have a fish. I spent probably too much time last night just sitting and watching him explore his bowl.