Zach Beauvais

I have just discovered that I would have made a worthless vet.

It is a good thing, because I have sometimes wondered if I should have chosen that course following a degree I have at times considered unhelpful (linguistics). Perhaps I should clarify that my wife is a vet, and that I sometimes feel that her job is a real ‘thing’ to do, whereas being without a named vocation is a bit abstract.

However, tonight I was asked to accompany my wife to help while she was ‘on call’  because she thought I might be helpful replacing fluids in a terrier a few hours after the practice closed.

Sure, shouldn’t be too much trouble.

The little, old terrier had managed to pull its catheter out, so the drip was hardly flowing into its vein at all, so my wife had to replace the catheter and re-attach the drip. So, I held the dog with its head away from its foreleg and raised the vein for a needle. Suddenly, the room began to shrink and grow very warm, and the dog began to get further away from me.

"You look very pale, are you OK?"

"erm…, I think you should hold the dog…"

I then stumbled away from the table and had to sit on the stone floor for a few minutes waiting for my heart to return to normal and the room to cool.

It turns out I can’t really take the feeling of a dog struggling away from a needle while watching it disappear under the skin.

So, Tim Ferris has decided to start punching people. I know, shocking. I have often thought about this, and thought about the consequences of actually carrying out my own form of impromptu corporal justice. To me, three thoughts rise from this idea:

1st, and slightly cliche’: "Where would it all end?" With only a personal standard of right and wrong, where does the line get drawn? There would inevitably be situations in which my view of the right reaction would be in conflict with someone else. No doubt, this would almost always be at odds with the person I decide to punch. What constitutes a ‘punching offense’?

Second, there does seem to be, in both British and American society,

Caledonian Road, Kings Cross

a complete lack of regard for personal consequences in public. Having lived in Kings Cross, Central London, I’ve probably seen about the worst people have to offer. From middle-class, middle-aged men trawling the streets in posh cars for paid sex to drunk teenagers being violently sick or urinating on the street. Many times, while catching a bus to university or walking back home, I was forced to think about mine and my wife’s safety. We saw someone casually walk into a phone box and rip out the coin compartment. I was harassed almost daily by the drunk homeless who hurl abuse about themselves like Pigpen from Peanuts.

The folks at Read/Write Web have published an article I wrote  for them about UK-based innovations company Talis.

Feel free to have a look over at the post, and feel free to leave comments either on Read/Write Web, or here on zachbeauvais.com.