So here's some WAS thought process, in keeping with the forum. I followed this line of thinking after reading Adinva's post about the conversation with her H. My thought was "the elephant in the room." And the fact that H and I have an elephant in the room right now that he's perfectly comfortable ignoring.
So that, coupled with an enjoyable day alone while H and son had boy scout activities, lead to an odd series of thoughts where, to me, H is the elephant in the room. I ended up thinking that I can think of a 100 reasons why I wouldn't want to live with an elephant. A real one, that is. It isn't that I don't think they're incredible, awesome, intelligent, fascinating, etc. They are. But they also cost a lot to keep, eat a ton, poop really big, messy piles, can be violent, smell bad, take up a lot of space, etc. (I probably don't need to list all 100 reasons, right?) So even though I think they're great, living with one is something entirely different.
And even though the elephant is not something I would care to live with, I wouldn't want it killed to punished or anything else bad to happen to it. In fact, putting it with another elephant seems like the best thing for it. I would even be excited to see it when I went to the zoo, maybe bring it a couple of apples (assuming they eat apples.) And I could do/feel that because I woudln't have to live with it anymore and feel over-burdened/frustrated/annoyed by the list of 100 reasons.
Instead, I live with a dog. He is a wonderful border collie named Starbuck. To me, he is absolutely perfect. Is he perfect? Of course not! Just to me. And not just because I love him, because I would love the elephant, too. But because he has a ton of qualities that I find very enjoyable TO LIVE WITH. He's very loyal, obedient, friendly, smart, energetic, cute, affectionate, clean, completely housebroken, doesn't chew up anything, etc. However, he also has a lot of traits that some other people would NOT like, evidenced by the fact that he's a rescue from the pound. He's 45-50 pounds (too big?), sheds a lot, is very energetic (needs lots of exercise,) leaves his toys all over the house, barks when he's excited, eats quite a bit, poops fairly large piles, and lifts his legs on EVERYTHING. So even though he's far from perfect, he's still perfect for me. I can overlook his shortcomings because the good far outweighs the bad.
H is the elephant in the room. I don't want to live with an elephant, and I can't make an elephant into a dog. I can't see that I would even try.
And so is the evolution of a WAS. At least my version.
