The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Life!

October 23, 2009

Excuse me, did you just sit on me?

Inside Out column

By Bev Davis

I’m thinking of getting rid of my TV cable. I don’t really need it. My cat Grace and my bunny CJ provide hours of live entertainment.

Take the other night, for example.

I was pages deep in a great novel. The house was quiet except for some faint instrumental music coming from my CD player.

All of a sudden, what sounded like a herd of horses stampeding through the house ended in a flurry of activity that shattered my reverie.

The cat was chasing a mouse. The bunny was chasing the cat. I couldn’t get back into my book because I found myself engaged in the tense battle of animal wits unfolding in front of me. The mouse was under the couch. The cat was on her tummy trying to flatten herself out enough to get under there with it. She was too big to get more than her nose and two long white paws under the edge of the couch. The bunny, who is small enough, did flatten himself out and went under the couch.

Grace batted feverishly at the movement under the couch, her tail twitching in the feline hunter’s mode.

CJ was batting back. The mouse, on the other hand, slipped out the other end of the couch and scurried right past the cat, who was too focused on the bunny to notice.

I went into the kitchen, got a small canning jar, coaxed the mouse into the jar with some peanuts, capped the jar and turned the mouse loose outside.

By the time I got back to my chair, CJ had become bored with the game under the couch and had come over and nestled down beside a small cushion I took out of the chair and put down on the floor beside it. Eventually, Grace gave up on the mouse and came over to settle down for a nap. Evidently, she didn’t see the bunny. After the long ritual of licking herself and turning around several times, she curled up on the cushion, which is too small for her, and didn’t realize the lower half of her body was now resting on a live, warm cushion — CJ.

He bolted upright and had a surprised expression that seemed to say, “Excuse me, did you just sit on me?” Reluctantly, the cat repositioned herself and gave the bunny his space.

I saw a good lesson for us humans. How often do we get so consumed with our comfort and convenience that we don’t even notice other people around us? We get so busy taking care of ourselves we take for granted those wonderful support people upon whom we often lean for friendship and help.

I started thinking about people I might have “sat on” in recent weeks. Whom did I neglect or barely speak to when they needed just a minute or two of my time? Whom did I fail to notice who could have used some encouragement? Were there people to whom I was just plain rude without realizing it?

If you’re one of those people, I apologize. The next time it happens, just feel free to say, “Excuse me, Bev, did you just sit on me?” I’ll understand, and I’ll do my best to pay more attention to your comfort and your needs.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com

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Life!