> Thwaites had finished his toaster three years before. Now he was beginning to worry about the future. He was semi-employed and living with his dad. Would he always be a scruffy man-child? How would he earn enough to start a family? Was the making of toasters—or other wry statements on the absurdity of modern life—a good use of his time on earth? Thwaites asked himself these questions and observed Noggin as commuters streamed past. He thought it must be wonderful to live in Noggin’s eternal present—to smell the grass, the wind, and the water without worrying about the future, the past, the meaning of life, or the inevitability of death. How much simpler to be an animal!
This piece rather idealizes life of nonhuman animals. Animals must learn to live on their own, independent of their parents. Animals are moved to accumulate resources needed for reproduction. Maybe domesticated animals have easier lives, but except for pets, they eventually get eaten. It's just that they're less aware of all that.