My daughter has two guinea pigs. They are kept in a cage in our house and I walk past them often during the day. The other people in our household will often play with them, taking them out of the cage and often allowing them to run around in the garden. My son and daughter will clean their cage twice a week and have a routine where they ensure the little pigs have water and food. There will also be fresh vegetables available and whoever walks past the cage will cut a piece of carrot or whatever and feed it to them as a treat.
The guinea pigs know the sounds that lead to them getting a treat and they get excited in anticipation. You can hear them from far away. When they feel neglected they also make a racket and someone will always respond.
However, that someone is never me. I do not like the guinea pigs. I love dogs. Guinea pigs to me, look like rats and rats do not belong in my house. As a result, I never touch the guinea pigs. I never speak to them and I never feed them. In my world, they do not exist.
The interesting thing is that I do not exist in their world. They never get excited when I walk past their cage. They never think I'm going to give them a treat. They never attempt to get my attention by making a racket. It is as if I do not exist. But the moment my daughter walks into the room they run and scream with excitement.
I'm irrelevant to them.
I'm very OK with this but I hope I'm only irrelevant to my daughter's guinea pigs. My hope is that when my neighbour or my colleague or my cousin for that matter need help my name will not be absent from their thinking as they seek solutions.
My daughter's guinea pigs know I am not a danger to them. They also know I am not of any help to them. As a result, I am irrelevant to them.
I want to be a danger to no one. But I do not want to be irrelevant to anyone.
Except for the guinea pigs of course.
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