Life in a 55-gallon world…..
Those of us who have an aquarium in their home will testify that there’s something soothing and relaxing about having watching fish swim. I guess it’s a kind of subliminal experience where we become the fishes that we are watching. What a life! Swim back and forth from end to end, and eat twice a day. No worries, no responsibilities. But the catch is…..ya gotta keep swimming, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, three hundred and sixty five days a year non-stop. Any way you look at it, that’s a helluva lot of swimming. Stop and you fall over on one side and risk being ridiculed by all the other fishes. Life in a 55-gallon world may not be as rosy as it seems. Big fish chases little fish and if little fish swims just a little bit slower that big fish, little fish ends up in big fish. And if THAT wasn’t bad enough, a fish gets lunch and dinner served in the same water it relieves itself in. How nasty is that!! And yet when the food is dropped in twice a day, it’s feeding frenzy time. By the way they attack that garlic-flavored veggie flake, you’d think it was a prime rib steak and a baked potato. They can’t get enough of it.
For all the enjoyment that comes from having an aquarium, one never really bonds with fish. It’s not quite like having a cat that purrs and curls up in your lap or a dog that wags his tail, listens to your every complaint and doesn’t expect much more than food and water, a little attention and an ocassional walk around the neighborhood. Fishes swim around until they get tired, fall over dead and end up flushed down the toilet. It’s a boring life with an unceremonial ending.