Cats and Dogs Are Always Themselves
Humans? Not always.
There is a red cat
In the perfect hereafter.
She’s slow and I’m fast.
My dog is happily shocked at how the red cat from next door has made herself at home in our rock garden, hunting with avid joy under the window where he likes to gaze upon his domain. Daily, there is a standoff with him barking so hard his front legs fly up off the ground, her sitting just beyond the electric fence, cleaning a paw and looking at him as if he’s lost his mind. One day, she’ll push the drama too far and he will chase her down no matter the cost and make her pay for criminal trespass.
Will he think to tell her that she is a lightning rod for his fury…the fury that comes with being old and hard of hearing and not able to see very well?
He probably won’t be thinking at all — and definitely will not thank her for prolonging his life, for entertaining him, giving him scents to track, rage to howl. She’s kept him young, agile, engaged, but he likely doesn’t see it that way.
I’m grateful to her, though. I am also thrilled with the small children who toddle up to him and whomp him on the head with their heartfelt small child affection. There are also the chipmunks and squirrels who put on shows overhead to amaze and thrill.
We’re all in this together, this conspiring to make the long goodbye a wonderful one. From the incredible staff at the veterinarian’s office to the pet store owner who hugged me when I told her he was very sick to the young woman who sent me a postcard thanking me for buying pet supplies from her company, we are all united in loving animals and sharing our lives with them as best that we can.
To the joke about wanting to come back in their next life as their dog, I would add wanting to die like my dog, at least in the merciful, compassionate way that this dog is leaving the world. That’s not to diminish genuine pain and confusion, but to celebrate how everyone is rising to the occasion to treasure this one small dog.
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A young friend has been treated abominably at work, a recently launched company with deep pockets, big ambitions, and abominable behavior.
To a question about a contract, they roared accusations of thinking that they were untrustworthy. To plain evidence of unethical and stupid behavior, they evade responsibility, snipe about bad attitude.
These well-educated, well-dressed and attractive professionals are terrifying. Behind their barrage of smart words and fast talk is dark, terrible nothing. They are the ultimate in empty suits, all smiles and no hearts, no substance, no brains.
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The red cat is a tormentor, but not by design. She hunts and she eats what she kills — and brings trophies home to her family. That the dog next door thinks she exists to bother him is his problem.
For her, the fluffy white dog next door is a funny little diversion. His bark is loud and he can run fast, but only so far. His senses are so compromised that she can lay three feet away from him and he’ll never know she’s there.
The dog doesn’t interfere with the hunt and that’s all the cat cares about.
They have their roles and they play them perfectly, the one complementing the other and making their lives more interesting, textured, and fun.
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How does a red cat and a fluffy white dog relate to an organization and their earnest, hardworking employee?
I have no idea.
At first, it felt like the cat and dog dynamic might be a decent analogy, but as I wrote about the cat and understood the dog more deeply, I realized that the animals are too intelligent, too good, too authentic to be used in comparison with craven bullies in sharp suits.
The bullies are going to have to find their own metaphor. Animals are too good for them.
Like many bullies before them, they would be fortunate to experience the logical outcomes of their behavior and to start out all over again, only this time more like a dog or a cat…
