Over the weekend I visited my friend. He has about two dozen chickens and recently got a domesticated pig (i forget the breed but it won’t be more than 300 pounds tops). Right now it’s a piglet and no more than 30 pounds. No…no pet is eaten at this house, although the chickens lay some mighty fine eggs.

The new piglet wanders around the yard, rooting for…well…roots. That’s pretty much what he does all day. And the chickens ignore him. Except for one.

One chicken follows the piglet around as it digs up roots. Then the chicken gets in there and eats all of the delicious bugs and worms that the piglet turned up. It’s pretty adorable. “Awww, the piglet has a new best friend…” “Awww, look at them working together…” etc.

I can’t deny the adorableness of it, but something else struck me. The piglet and chicken are not working together, and they are not friends. The piglet is doing all of the work, and the chicken is reaping the benefits. They aren’t cooperating. The chicken is taking advantage of the piglet. If it was truly a friendship, the chicken would be contributing to the piglet’s emotional or physical wellbeing, like a nice back scratch or something.

But I’m going to ignore this deeper, discouraging thought. The piglet doesn’t seem to mind, and it’s cute as hell. So Carry On, Piglet and Chicken! You make people say “awww,” and maybe…maybe that’s enough.

That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.