The Lorax of Petra

The Lorax of Petra

I stood in Petra with Chaya at my side watching some 20 year old American girl loudly scolding a Bedouin boy for how he was treating his herd of donkeys.

“You can’t slap the donkey!” the great defender of animal rights yelled at the 9 year old boy who had been caring for these beasts of burden since the day he was born.

Apparently, the girl’s cul de sac upbringing must have failed her somewhere, as she was obviously unaware that smacking a donkey on the ass to get it to move is the equivalent of pushing on the accelerator of an automobile. But the girl basked in her own sense of duty anyway.

The little Bedouin boy looked at her as if she were nuts.

Thus satisfied with her good deed, the blond haired avenger of riotousness returned to her family, who were a cut and dry bunch that seemed to have been cut out of a photo shoot for some toothpaste advertisement. They seemed proud of the bold element in their family.

“There she goes fighting for the animals again.”

This girl was obviously no ordinary tourist in Petra, but a strong minded revolutionary who stuck up for the rights of the donkeys against their Bedouin abusers . . . all while buying souvenirs, taking pictures, and working on nice vacation tan.
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Wade from Vagabond Journey.com
in Jordan- May, 2009
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While watching the Lorax of Petra in action Chaya spoke my thoughts:

“One of the funniest things in this world is white people getting mad about how everyone else treats animals.”

It is true, I do enjoy looking down my nose at White people who are in turn looking down their noses at little Bedouin boys slapping donkeys.

Bedouin boy who got yelled at by the American girl for “slapping” his donkeys.

Donkeys running in Petra.

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The Lorx of Petra