That Whole ‘Look’ Thing
So, you hear about rottweilers and the whole ‘cut ears’ business. People do it, or they don’t. Some say it’s for the classic look, makes ’em look fierce, whatever. Honestly, it always made me think. Are we changing things just for how they look on the outside?
It kinda reminds me of this one time, years ago, when I was working on this community garden project. We had this old, gnarled apple tree. Wasn’t the prettiest, you know? Some folks on the committee, they wanted to chop it right down. ‘It doesn’t fit the aesthetic,’ they said. ‘Let’s get something neat and tidy.’ Just like that. Cut it down because it didn’t look ‘right’.
- They kept saying, ‘It’s an eyesore.’
- ‘It’s blocking the view of the new rose bushes.’
- ‘A clean cut would improve the whole place.’
I fought tooth and nail for that tree. That tree had character, man. It gave the best apples, even if it looked a bit rough around the edges. It had history. We didn’t need to ‘cut’ it or ‘shape’ it to fit some magazine picture. It was good as it was. It was strong, dependable, even if it wasn’t ‘perfect’ looking.
We spent weeks going back and forth. Meetings, arguments, the whole nine yards. They were so focused on this idea of a ‘clean cut’ for a ‘better image’. Sounded a bit like that whole ‘cut ears’ debate to me – doing something drastic just for appearance, maybe missing the point of what’s already there, what’s real.
In the end, we managed to save the tree. Had to compromise, trimmed some of the wilder branches, sure. But we didn’t just hack it down for looks. And you know what? That tree is still there, still giving apples. Sometimes, I think, people are too quick to want to ‘cut’ things to fit some idea, instead of appreciating what’s already good. Just my two cents on it, from what I’ve seen, you know?
