That's a hell of a blanket statement about what would or wouldn't freak a kid out.

I was brought up with a very unsentimental view of animals (pets notwithstanding). Both my brother and father occasionally engaged in poaching. And it was not entirely unknown for dad to return from his job in the early hours of the morning with roadkill.

We went to a poachers' convention when i was around 7 or 8. Martin took part in a rabbit skinning contest (came 3rd) and gave me the foot of his rabbit to keep for luck. After he'd shot some wood pigeons for a pie, he attached string to one of the bird claws for me. It was awesome, you pull the cord and the bird foot moved and clenched. We kept lizards and snakes, who ate live food. I watched as mice disappeared down the gullet of a python.

But: in the market there was a butcher's stall that always had a pig's head prominently displayed. It gave me the heebie jeebies. I had nightmares about that head. And from an early age refused to go past that stall. Likewise, no matter how many dead animals I encountered (rabbits and game birds hung to dry in the back room) I was totally freaked out by fish - and still can't eat fish if it arrives with the head still attached.

It's the glassy eyes - or worse the empty sockets *shudders*

Wait, your Dad was Will Scarlet?

So your folks allowed you to dictate their path through the market? :eyebrow:

A friend of mine grew up in communist Poland and he told me the following Polish joke:
What's the cleanest shop in Warsaw?
The butcher shop.
(There was never any meat and no food usually,for that matter, in any of the shops.

Ahh communist Poland. Good times good times.

I don't think mum saw any value in insisting I go past something that was freaking me out.

We didn't go to the market that often. I daresay had it been a weekly occurence she mayhave taken a different tack.


[eta] and if the next thing you have to say is in any way insinuating that my parents didn't 'do their job properly', you and I are going to fall out.

Pre-'Lord of the Flies', or, post-'Lord of the Flies'?

I eat nothing that's looking at me.

Well, almost nothing.:eaty:

:D

Hahah. Pre-Lord of the Flies. But damn, if I didn't have a vivid image in my head when I did read LotF !

I completely get what you're saying now Dani.
You were raised in a way that completely embraced the idea of animals as food and eating meat to live, but a particular image distressed you to the point of nightmare.
I don't think this is the case of the people complaining in the article. For example your Mum found it more reasonable to avoid what was causing your upset; she didn't wage a campaign against the proprietor of said stall.

But I'm glad you explained it.
Who knows what goes on in the minds of children? I was terrified of a goldfish called Glug on a children's television programme and actually had nightmares about it. It was not even vaguely threatening, but it filled me with a visceral horror. At least your childhood shudder came from a real decapitated animal ;)

Fallout? Fallout! Why I oughta... No, your parents are great, it's you who's nuts. http://cellar.org/2012/bwekk.gif

Your parents did the right thing, they realized they had a crazy kid and dealt with it. They didn't demand the world change, merchants change their business practices, to accommodate their kid/family preferences.

That's what I keep seeing today... the world must change for my convenience/comfort.
Hey world, accommodate my preferences/whims... I'll remember you at Christmas.

In our neighborhood as a lad, there were no fences, and everyone's backyard was fair game for playing and running around. There were pockets of woods here and there too. We'd run from yard to yard all the time and knew all the good hiding spots.

So on more than one occasion, we'd be playing hide and seek or kick the can or chase, and I'd run into somebody's backyard and there would be a deer carcass hanging from a tree, with its throat slit and tongue hanging out just a little bit. I remember being horrified, but then it would change to fascination, and I'd have to stop to check out the carcass.

Ha! Can't rightly argue with that :P

You do know what to do in case of fallout, don't you?

You put it back in and take shorter strokes.

:jig:


Thanks, I'm here all week. Try the pighead.

When you run out of cash
 

That's when they will miss you! ;)

LINK

For at least five years, the woman’s body lay clothed in a winter jacket in the backseat of her Jeep in the garage of a home where she lived alone.

Her bills were automatically deducted from her bank account, and residents of the quiet middle-class Pontiac, Mich. neighborhood said they noticed nothing amiss.

Nobody saw her, but the grass was cut and the mail didn’t pile up. Some neighbors said they thought she had moved out of the country after the recession hit several years ago.
Eventually, the money in her bank account ran out and the house went into foreclosure, leading to the gruesome discovery this week.

The body had mummified, Oakland County officials said, adding to the mystery.

A contractor the bank sent to check out the house discovered the body Wednesday in the attached garage of the ranch-style home, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.

Undersheriff Mike McCabe said investigators believe the woman has been dead since at least 2008. That’s the year the license plate on the Jeep expired.

“She had $54,000 in her account, and her bills were being deducted,” McCabe said. “Eventually, the money ran out, and her house went into foreclosure.”

The undersheriff said neighbors told deputies they thought the woman had moved out of the country because they had not seen her for three or more years.

An autopsy showed there was no trauma to the body; a cause of death is pending, McCabe said.

Dr. Bernardino Pacris, the Oakland County deputy medical examiner who conducted the autopsy, said the skin was intact, though internal organs had decomposed. He said he found no evidence of internal or external injuries.

Pacris said that in the mummification process, skin will develop a parchment-like consistency and leathery texture. Climate, weather and humidity play a role, he said.

He said finding a body in that condition is unusual, but “once in a while, we see this.”

Pacris said the body was on the backseat and clothed in a heavy jacket and jeans, leading him to believe the woman may have died when the weather was cold. The key was in the ignition, but in the off position, Pacris said.

He said the immediate concern is confirming the woman’s identity and learning more about her, including her medical history and social habits, to determine the cause of death.

McCabe said some relatives on the East Coast may have been identified, but he withheld the woman’s name until they could be notified.

Neighbor Darryl Tillery, 49, said the woman’s mail never piled up at the house and her lawn was kept neat.

“It was pretty manicured,” he said Thursday from his home. “There was no indication there was a body in there, at all.”

Tilly said he and his neighbors are shaken.

Renea Garrett, 46, said she felt bad about the death and the body not being discovered for so long.

“People need to be closer to each other and check on your neighbors,” she said.

Another neighbor said he assumed that the woman had left after the economy want bad in 2009. At the time, many people were leaving their homes because they could no longer afford them.

McCabe said neighbors had complained about a hole in the home’s roof and said raccoons were getting in. The company managing the house for the mortgage holder sent a repair man.

“He went into the garage and saw the mummified remains in the backseat and called 911,” McCabe said.

McCabe said the electricity was still on in the house but moisture had caused black mold throughout. Detectives planned to wear protective suits to inspect the rest of the home, he said.

Staff writer L.L. Brasier contributed to this report.

--

(c)2014 the Detroit Free Press

Truly weird. I wonder if she stopped her mail. It could have been an exposure suicide.

If she had a mail slot high on the door I suppose the junk mail could be accommodated. But sitting in the back seat fully clothed, key in the ignition but turned off, is really odd.