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| Winston will have a double, please. Neat. |
Inspired by critter cafes (cat, dog and recently, owl in Tokyo), a pop-up owl bar is being advertised for March 20-25 in London's Soho district. All profits will be donated to Barn Owl UK, a wildlife conservation group.
One could not ask for a more classic joke set up:
A rabbi, a penguin and a sailor walk into a bar and an owl sitting there says.....
I'm of two minds on this. I rather like owls and C is quite a fan so I think we would go if given the chance. It would be fun to see them and those humans brought in by this unique example of marketing. One wonders about what steps are being made by the owl handlers to ensure a positive experience for all? For example, what about the pellets? These are the undigested bits such as bone, feather, teeth, fur, skull that an owl regurgitates 6-10 hours after a meal. While delightful to a seven year old, this might make for a memorable first and last date with the lovely Janice from Accounting. I would guess the owls would be on soft food for awhile prior to the opening. Similarly in a dog or cat cafe, when one is suddenly inspired to conduct their more intimate toilette in front of you during dinner. They don't mind so really, neither should you. Everybody's different and if we are going to hang out together, then we should at least learn about each others ways and be ok with it.
Well, that's a Utopian ideal that suffers from lack of practice particularly amongst ourselves.
What am I thinking?
It appears the owls will be treated well and attempts are being made to set up a respectful atmosphere and inter-species interaction. But, one wonders about the owls. Of course they can't be asked if they wish to participate and this does make one a tad uneasy. While a unique and clever idea, is this another example of species exploitation? The fact that it is a charity event and not simply a money-grubbing capitalist venture helps. Certainly, the more radical of animal welfare people, who take a dim view of having pets and absolutely loathe zoos, would not be amused. My friend Bin, who often has a distinctly jaundiced view of humans, is grimly amused by the prospect of drunken apes behaving in their usual yobbish manner. The owls, he says, will enjoy this spectacle for they, like many creatures, view apes with enormous, eye-rolling disdain. Perhaps those attending should be reminded of this and be gently asked to be on their best behavior.
We are a gregarious but dim species and it just doesn't occur to us that we might be acting in an offensive manner to others. And since we cannot communicate with our owl friends to ask, maybe, despite our affection towards them and general desire to interact, we should just let them be. Perhaps a more respectful event would have vids of Winston and the others running in the background. And explain all this. Folks truly dedicated to the cause will understand and I think will appreciate more deeply the concept. We won't know will we if the owls are upset or frightened during this event? Or, as Bin says,if the owls will look back at us,then to each other and sadly shake their heads.
The pop-up bar website:
annietheowl.com
An article from the Time Out London Blog:
http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2015/02/23/london-is-getting-a-pop-up-owl-bar/
Image of Winston: annietheowl.com
