Emily+G’s+OpEd+Article



Yes, yes, I know, not the normal female thoughts, but I see no reason to get giddy with excitement over a horse on the side of the road. "EEEEEEKKKKK! What a cute horsey!! OMG. I WANT ONE!" ummm no, shut up.You know what a worth while animal to have would be? A Great White Shark. A Tiger Shark. A Whale Shark. Maybe a Hammerhead Shark. Perhaps a BUll Shark. Even a Lemon Shark. Please, anything but a freaking horse! Yes, I have given horses a chance but have had quite scarring experiences with these giant, poop filled donkeys. And yes, I have even gone as far as to sit on top of one, and no, I did not feel inspired by their beauty and I was most certainly not awestruck. I cried. Seriously though, I cried! This may be why I receive such odd reactions when I become overjoyed while imagining the summer I am finally eighteen, the summer I am swimming with sharks. People fail to remember that I will be in a metal cage safely connected to a large boat ready to pull me up if anything goes wrong. All they imagine is a Great White Shark, its mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, its mind only thinking about one thing, what a good next meal I am going to make. People with this thought process disgust me! Yes, sharks seem scary and dangerous only because they swim beneath us in the cold, dark ocean and we grow up hearing horror stories about them. We never know if they are around while we are in the water, we cannot see them coming, they are ten times our size and they love blood. We shudder at the thought of them because society has brainwashed us into thinking that all sharks do is kill. All types, at all times; if they see a human, we are their next target. This is completely untrue, so stop the judgement, they are simply misunderstood majestic creatures. Quick lesson for you shark haters...annually, 3,000 people are killed by hippos, 500 by elephants, and 100 by bees. Annually, ants kill 35 people, dogs kill 30, cows kill 22, and horses kill 20. In 2011, 10.3 million people were killed. They were murdered by other humans! So, if you find yourself harboring feelings of fear or even hatred of sharks, you might want to take a step back and gain a little perspective. Sharks are not nearly as deadly as you may think.
 * If you know anything about me, you should know I despise horses but love sharks.**
 * However, <1 person is killed each year in the U.S. and fewer than six worldwide are killed by sharks.**