good shame

In an effort to spur the return of my vegetarian mojo, I am reading Jonathan Safran Foer's new work, Eating Animals. So far, it is a brilliant read & I have already found myself eyeing the bag of shrimp in the freezer with suspicion.

I found this gem on page 40:

"And nothing inspires as much shame as being a parent. Children confront us with our paradoxes and hypocrisies, and we are exposed. You need to find an answer for every why --Why do we do this? Why don't we do that? -- and often there isn't a good one. So you say, simply, because. Or you tell a story that you know isn't true. And whether or not your face reddens, you blush. The shame of parenthood --which is a good shame -- is that we want our children to be more whole than we are, to have satisfactory answers. My son not only inspired me to reconsider what kind of eating animal I would be, but shamed me into reconsideration."