Beef. Marinated.

To earn more money for college, I entered a steer in the Oneida County Fair. I did this for five straight years. I didn't hate it but didn't particularly enjoy it either. I felt guilty that I would break this animal to lead, get attached to it and then sell it.  Knowing full well where he would end up. It's not like he was going to greener pastures. Well, in the sky, maybe.

My last year I could enter, I had an awesome steer, as far as quality was concerned. We got him from a top seller and payed good money. My dad and I both knew that I had a good chance of winning either Grand or Reserve Champion. He really was a beautiful animal.  He was jet black. He was jumpy. Every day I went out to work with him, I would blast my music, bang things around. Just make a ruckus so he would get used to loud noises. I seemed to be working....

The day of the show, I took him out to walk him before it started. I could tell he was nervous. I would walk a few steps. He would jog beside me. It wasn't like him. All of a sudden he bolted. He'd gone nuts. It took my dad and two other guys to catch him. Luckily, there weren't many people there and no one was hurt. I didn't know what we were going to do. Go home?

My dad tied him up. I was sad. All that hard work and I was going to have to pull out.  My dad had a different idea. He left and came back with a brown sack. I could tell there was a bottle in it. A whiskey bottle to be exact. What the heck?! He told me we were going to give some to my steer. Now, just so you know, this wasn't against the rules. It is now. Anyway, I thought, when my dad put the funnel in my steers mouth, that he would just give him a little swig. Wrong. The entire bottle went into his belly. Oh, man. He coughed and heaved and coughed. Tears started to stream down his face.

In about thirty minutes, I took my drunk steer out into the arena for the Quality show. And what a show he put on. He would walk a few steps. Cough, Cough. Walk. Cough. Walk. Stagger. When the judge was looking him over he plopped down on the ground. He had to help me get him up. I was so glad when we were done!

Well, I did win Reserve Champion. I did get a lot of money for my Orudis (awesome name, right?!). But I think the disappointment of having to leave would have been better than trying to lug that tipsy animal around. And it made me a little sad to see him like that. I'm kind of a softy.

 Later, the people that bought him told us that he tasted good. I didn't want to hear that. So I didn't bother telling them the secret ingredient.