An Urban Legend Confirmed
It was nearly midnight and I was driving home after a long
day when I realized there was no cat food in the house and I would be facing
the same trio of feral cats bright and early at the back door that I face every
morning, hungrier than ever.
The cats are fond of my wife but I’m
the one who feeds them because I get up so early. So I stopped at the
all-night mega-grocery store and headed for the pet food section.
Not a can of cat food in
sight.
I asked the night
manager, “What happened? Did you have a sale?”
“No, not at all. This happens every
time we get near the end of the month,” he said.
"Old folks buy the cat food.
Most of them come in late at night because they’re embarrassed. It’s my
shift so I get to know a lot of them.
"They run out of money waiting
for next month’s check to come. They buy cans of cat food and make their own version of tuna casserole.
"One elderly lady offered to
sell me her recipe for five bucks. I wish now I had bought it. She needed
the money,”
I had heard for decades that old
folks eat cat food when they run out of money but I thought it was an urban
legend. Now, at least in this store, not located in a poor neighborhood, that
urban legend has been confirmed as fact.
I asked the manager for a
favor.
“The next time you see that
lady, tell her you have someone who wants to buy her recipe for twenty
bucks. Here’s the money. Here’s my number. Call me and I’ll come and get
it and give you an extra ten for your trouble.
"I know a couple of folks I
want to give it to. One of them will be the next president of the United States and this might make a nice entree
at the Inauguration banquet. Both candidates are senior citizens but I bet
neither has ever sat down to a meal like this.”
He laughed a bit but said he’d do
it. I hope he does.
The Feeding -- Max Huber
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