Our recent election has raised questions such as, How can Alaskans vote (45% of us, at least) for a convicted felon? How can Alaskans take back that crazy governor? How can Alaskans kill those poor wolves? I can give you answers to these questions if you're interested, answers which, in my mind, are perfectly reasonable.
But one thing that makes me raise an eyebrow involves our local meat market. I drive past the back door every day, which occasionally makes for an interesting scene when a pickup truck arrives with a moose or caribou for processing. The cleaned parts of the animal usually get placed on racks outside until they are disposed of properly. Kind of weird for a city transplant like me.
This time of year, the butcher will occasionally throw a rack of ribs out on the snow for the birds. What am I to think of this? A part of me thinks this is rather gross and irresponsible. As a microbiology student, I know entirely more than I ever really wanted to about microscopic organisms. I question whether this practice is a health hazard. And of course, if it was summer and the meat was out there rotting and stinking, the answer would be a definite yes. But, since it's winter, the meat~~well, it's not rotting and stinking. It's just out there, looking as rich and rosy as it did three days ago, and I am left to question whether this is simply an Alaskan thing.
I hate to admit it, but while I want to think this is all quite gross, I shrug my shoulders. It's just one of those things that happens here.
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