Stepping on Worms
It doesn’t rain much here. So when it does rain for more than a day or two it drives the worms out in droves. I realize that to most people this is nothing unusual. That’s not the point here. Anyway, for the last two days it’s been raining off and on. Just enough to keep the ground wet. And of course, the worms are everywhere. I was noticing yesterday that I don’t like to step on them. And when I do accidentally step on one, I actually feel quite bad. I don’t know why. It doesn’t bother me when I see birds eat them. I don’t mind killing flies or mosquitoes. In fact, I quite enjoy that. I don’t even mind putting worms on a fish hook. Today I drove through a driveway that was just teeming with worms. I’m sure I ran over at least 20 worms. I didn’t feel so bad about it somehow. I guess that when I would have to swerve dangerously into traffic, I have no issues with squishing numerous worms. But when I walked over to the deli to get me a wonderful breakfast sandwich I felt like I was having an internal struggle to figure out why I don’t like to step on them. Every worm I passed seemed to make me wonder more and more.
So here is what I have decided. For now at least. Even though worms have no brain and I doubt they can even feel pain, they are God’s creations and deserve some respect. They also serve some function for the good of man. They don’t carry disease that I know of and they don’t bite or pester. In fact, the only time you even see them is when it is too rainy to want to go outside anyway or when you really go looking for them with a shovel. Sure some people think they are gross but then so is Jell-O and no one is asking you to eat worms so let’s all give them a break. I’m not suggesting that we swerve to miss worms or avoid going about our activities when it rains but if we all try just a little harder to keep from stepping on worms when we can, the ground will be healthier, the robins will be happier, there will be more readily available fish bait, and we’ll all be able to sleep a little easier.
