You've been feeling your life is a little empty lately, as you wander about your apartment or home. (There's no shame in admitting it; we've all been there.) You've thought to yourself that you'd like a companion to always be there for you, but in non-human form. Sure, you could find yourself a lover or partner; perhaps you already have one. But you know that human beings are such a lot of bother.
So you've narrowed it down to two choices: keifer grains (pictured above), or a puppy (pictured below). Both require constant care and attention, both need food and fluids daily, both will grow and flourish under the proper conditions, and both have reputed health properties. To help you make an informed decision, we offer you some strictly nonscientific comparisons. Round One: The Basics KEIFER GRAINS: When put into milk, water, juice, coconut milk, etc, it will create a drinkable sour (milk grains) or acidic (water grains) product that repopulates your intestines with lots of healthy microflora, according to it's passionate adherents. PUPPY: Will lick your face. Even if you're a jerk. WINNER: Possibly a draw, depending on how flora-philic or germ-phobic you are. Round Two: Noise KEIFER GRAINS: None at all, until you're slurping the resultant beverage down; or the cussing that follows when your fridge is filling up, and you realize you can't drink it fast enough to keep up. PUPPY: Count the nights your neighbor's dog has kept you up. You can't, can you? Exactly. WINNER: Advantage keifer grains - unless you are entirely or functionally deaf. Then it's even either way. Round Three: Cost KEIFER GRAINS: Quite inexpensive for the grains themselves- until you realize you need to feed it EVERY 24 hours with 8oz milk per teaspoon grains. EVERY 24 hours. Which still ends up being cheaper than buying the stuff - we think. PUPPY: You might save some money getting it from a pound, shelter, or rescuing it off the street - but you still have the shots, the exams, the collar, the food, the carrier, the bed, etc to deal with. And look out if Fluffy ever needs surgery, because your major medical ain't gonna cover that. WINNER: Keifer grains. Round Four: Letting Go, Or, After the Love is Gone KEIFER GRAINS: Easy-peasy. Put grains in water and stick them in the fridge to remain dormant, or dry out the grains and reconstitute when you're ready to resume keifering. Worst comes to worst, chuck them into the compost bin and buy some more. PUPPY: Extremely Difficult. Never mind losing a friend - if you have kids and you ever have to sell/give away dog for any reason, they will NEVER forgive you. Ever. Not until you hand them the keys to the brand new car you just bought them - maybe. Round Five: The Cute Factor KEIFER GRAINS: Resembles cottage cheese, not really cute per se until you look at it a while and realize, hey, it is kind of adorable in it's own way. PUPPY: Are you kidding? We need to explain this one? You must be a cat person. WINNER: No contest - and if you're spending that much time staring at your keifer grains, you clearly are in need of a little human companionship. We're worried for you. Join us next time for another in our helpful comparisons: "So You're Having a Midlife Crisis? $3000 Food Processor, vs Convertible." (Photo below courtesy of J. Holder - and yes, we know it's more of a dog than a puppy per se. We told you this was "unscientific", did we not? )
4 Comments
Ellen in Connecticut
12/23/2011 09:10:37 am
I vote for the puppy, and you can give me a cup of kefir once in a while.
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sile
12/23/2011 12:16:22 pm
hey, put a reference to your blog on facebook. i still say we're going to lose you to Mario... or maybe Grist.
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Janice
12/26/2011 04:53:50 am
Anytime, Ellen!
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Janice
12/26/2011 05:00:46 am
Sheila - Thank you for the suggestion! I actually made a reference to this post on FB:
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