of rats and men

2008 being the Year of the brown Rat brings to mind a lot of things like it being our year because brown is the color of us Pinoys.

Well, is this going to be OUR YEAR after all since brown is associated with the Filipino race?  But a brown rat?  This made me think.  Are rats also in any way connected with Pinoys?

Yes, I think we too are ratty in many ways.  I remember one teacher of mine in the high school who would cry in front of the class when we were not very attentive to her.  She would always use this favorite expression of hers "I am as poor as a rat".

There is no doubt about it.  Poverty is always associated with rats.  Rats, especially brown rats, live in proverty because nobody wants them.  Nobody wants  to have them as pets like the white mice that get fed and sheltered.  Brown or black rats are the most hated pests in the house.  We do everything to kill them.  We trap or poison them or hire a pest exterminator to get rid of them.