# A Moooving Tale of 9/11 and Cows! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285 "2006-09-11T14:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/1 "2006-09-11T14:19:48Z")
I am doing my damndest _not_ to think about 9/11, but this story is just so cute. Remember those Masai tribespeople who offered us cows after 9/11? Here’s an update (I am heartbroken, though, that I don’t get my cow!): > [@](#): > > ENOOSAEN, Kenya, Sept. 10 — When Masai tribesmen marry, they give cows. When a son wants to earn the respect of his father, he gives cows. When there is a friend in need or a condolence call to make, more cows. So it was, in this one-cow-fits-all spirit, that the elders of Enoosaen four years ago donated 14 prized bulls and heifers to the people of the United States to help ease the pain of the Sept. 11 attacks. > > On Sunday, American diplomats returned to this town in the carpeted hills of southern Kenya and announced, much to the delight of the hundreds of Masai gathered in their best beaded finery, that the cattle were not going anywhere, especially not to the slaughterhouse. Instead, they will be blessed, and their offspring will be used to pay for education for the children of Enoosaen. To get the cow trust fund going, the Americans are donating 14 high school scholarships. > > “What you did to help us will not be forgotten,” said the new American ambassador to Kenya, Michael E. Ranneberger. The Masai elders, some sitting in monkey skin jackets, beamed. “We did what we knew best,” said an elder, Mzee ole Yiamboi. “The handkerchief we give to people to wipe their tears with is a cow.” [Goes off to wipe her eyes with a cow] ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/2 "2006-09-11T14:31:49Z")
Though I have a little trouble with the concept of honking my schnozz in a heifer, that’s definitely a big point in the “thought that counts” department. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/3 "2006-09-11T14:54:51Z")
Pretty cool story **Eve**. Thank you for sharing it with us. ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/4 "2006-09-11T14:57:37Z")
Thanks for sharing that! I, however, prefer to wipe my eyes on a cat. I always have one of them around somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/5 "2006-09-11T16:09:12Z")
That’s a really great story. Thanks, Eve. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/6 "2006-09-11T16:22:24Z")
That is a great story. **Eve** might I suggest that, instead of keeping a whole cow around, you invest in a cowhide hanky? Perhaps even a hanky with a cowhide print? I know, I know, it wouldn’t be quite the same as your very own personal cow you could take to the park, weep into and all, but, just as with those wonderful and sincere Masai tribespeople, it would be a symbolic gesture. Besides your neighbors would appreciate it if they didn’t have to listen to all that clomping around and mooing all hours of the day and night. Cows have absolutely no sense of decorum or discretion. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/7 "2006-09-11T16:37:21Z")
> [@](#): > > … and announced, much to the delight of the hundreds of Masai gathered in their best beaded finery, that the cattle were not going anywhere, especially not to the slaughterhouse. _Bo_vine intervention? ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/8 "2006-09-11T16:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=swampbear] Besides your neighbors would appreciate it if they didn’t have to listen to all that clomping around and mooing all hours of the day and night. [/QUOTE] Like they don’t _now?_ ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/9 "2006-09-11T18:56:25Z")
It seems that the gift was actually a brainchild of a member of that tribe who became a medical student and was in New York on 9/11. Here’s a more in-depth article: [http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=283822&area=/insight/insight\_\_africa/](http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=283822&area=/insight/insight__africa/) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2006, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-moooving-tale-of-9-11-and-cows/372285/10 "2006-09-11T19:22:30Z")
Good thing it wasn’t cow toilet paper.