The Deity and the Degenerate

My classroom para-educator took a few moments from instructing our little angels a couple days ago to offer me a sight that left me disturbed and ill-at-ease. She pulled up some news site on the internet and showed me the picture of a little girl in India born with two faces. Everything else seemingly normal, except for two faces. From what I can tell, two different completely functional faces. The parents say they feed whichever mouth is the handiest, and while the first face is drinking, the other sucks a thumb. Naturally, the locals are worshiping her as a goddess. Who knows, maybe in time, she will grow up to be twice as beautiful as Aphrodite.
When I got home, I wanted Chad to be disturbed as well. I have a very sharing personality. Lucky him. As he is more inquisitive than I, he continued to read the article and view other pictures. Apparently, somewhere down the block in India, our two faced little goddess (that is not derogatory, just because she has two faces doesn’t mean that she will be a back stabber—we will probably have to form a more politically correct saying for the original meaning of two-faced) has a little neighborhood friend to play with that may be sympathetic to her plight. This other little girl was born with one face, but with four arms and four legs. She could have been looking at Olympic greatness in the both the track & field events as well as in gymnastics. Alas, her dreams were cut short as her parents allowed a doctor to put her under the knife and remove her extra-special appendages. Now, she is boring like the rest of us. The question that comes to my mind, and will probably come to hers as well, making it ultimately impossible for her to be friends will our famed little goddess is, how come two faces makes you a deity, and two sets of limbs makes you a freak? Doesn’t quite seem fair. There are going to be some jealousy and inferiority complex therapy session in store for that little girl.
I couldn’t help but think about the Simpson’s episode with the frogs that are poisoned and growing extra limbs and eyes. It seems nearly every time I hear about such malformations on innocent children, they are on children who decided to be born in India. Maybe this is not specific to India and I am just poorly informed, or maybe India just has better media/tabloid coverage. Or maybe, just maybe, people should move from India or expand the gene pool. Of course, if I was in the process of repopulating the ancient gods of Greece and Rome, I might stay too.
Our American version of producing adequate royalty and deity children is not quite as grounded in genetics and happenstances of birth. We, in the true American way, have to work for what we have. It’s how we keep our pride; our firm grasp on what is important and genuine. Sometimes we face persecution for our dedication to bettering our children and the forthcoming generations. Such is the case of a local couple. They did not rely on their child being born special. No, they decided to work on it. Unfortunately, they did not agree on which path would be the most appropriate for their four year old little boy. In all reports, he only had one face, one nose, one penis, and ten toes. Sad, right? Well, thank Zeus for dedicated parents. His mother wanted to raise him as a Crypt (or a blood, I don’t recall which color went better with her complexion). His father wanted him to be raised firmly in the beliefs and standards of a lesser known, but no less respected, gang. Truly a father and mother willing to put aside their relationship for the good of their toddler’s future. They were both taken into custody when their disagreement of how to best care for their son became a physical and not so quiet altercation.
Can we really blame them? The Man is always doing his part to keep down those of us who are hard working and determined. It’s so much easier in the Indies.