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I remember the first time I saw a chicken beheaded by my then crush. It was in the early 1970s and I was working on a farm in Colorado and she was the "farmer's daughter." It was the summer between 8th and 9th grade. It was Friday evening after we had bailed hay and it was time to slaughter some chickens. Grab the chickens by the neck, then either ring their neck or use a machete to chop their heads off. It was pretty ugly, but I learned where fried chicken came from.

The reason that it is a "freak show" now is that we are "protected" by the cruelties of life. It should be a required course in high school to have to raise and slaughter food for consumption. It makes you appreciate life. It also teaches you some responsibility for yourself. If worse comes to worse I can raise and slaughter chickens or goats or lambs, or cows.

We allow our children to watch TV with its extreme simulated violence, but we fear their reaction of seeing where their McChicken comes from.

I remember the noise, smell and sounds of the chicken's slaughter, but I also remember some very good fried chicken that Friday night.