Telling the truth is always good - maybe…
Once again, notice the animal theme, like the Cow, the Turtle and the Seagull...I sense a trend starting...at least for these days...
When I was a little boy, I was hyper, energetic, mischievous, and sometimes I would just do things for no apparent reason, or just to figure out why. I liked to take things apart. I liked to figure out how things worked. I liked to laugh and goof around. I liked to be a little silly. I would be on some sort of medication, if I were a boy today. I wasn’t evil, but I did some crazy things and some things that I shouldn't have, just because I was curious.
One of those things was to do with wallpaper in my room, when I was about 6 or 7 years old. I would lay in my bed and look at the seams to see if they were perfectly matched up.
I wondered how they attached the the wallpaper?
I wondered if it shrunk as it dried?
I wondered, if you pulled it off, would it reattach?
I wondered if it would come off in a full sheet?
I wondered if my parents would notice, if I pulled it all off?
I began to pick at one small seam near the middle of my bed. I picked about a two inch section, or so, piece and then pushed it back. It didn’t stick back. It didn’t come off in a full sheet. It didn’t shrink. I got most of my answers right away. I got my final answer the next day when my Mom called me up to my room. She did notice and I got a really good explanation of how it was attached, how much it cost, and how this couldn't be fixed. I was warned to never touch this picked spot again.
About a week went by and my Mom called me up, to my room again, to look at the wallpaper. It was pulled back further and some was missing from the exact spot I was warned about. My mom asked if I had picked at it some more and I told her that I hadn’t, which was true. I didn’t touch it again, because I knew the punishment would be not so good.
My mom didn’t believe me. She asked me again with the threat of a spanking, but I didn’t do it, so I told her I didn’t. She spanked me.
She asked again.
I told her I didn’t do it.
She spanked me again.
She asked once again.
I told her I didn’t do it.
She spanked me once again.
She asked me a third time.
I told her I didn’t do it.
She spanked me more.
This went on for about 10 licks with the belt. She wasn’t being mean, but thought I was lying, so I deserved punishment. Finally, I said that I did it and got three more licks for lying. Couldn't win for losing, here...BTW, I likely deserved the spankings for something else I had done...
Ouch - my backside was sore, but I knew I didn’t do it and was puzzled, at the least, as to what happened. I recovered from my punishment and went about my day. Latter that night, I went up to my room and there she was - the cat!
She was picking at the wallpaper and pulling it off. I caught the culprit and went to get my belt (just kidding). I told my mom, but to no avail - the cat had gotten me in trouble and I lied to get out of trouble. That devil cat - it was evil personified (wait, that would be cat-ified or feline-ified).
What should I do to the cat?
Should I shave some of its hair off? In strips or spots or like a target?
Should I take it to the vet and then leave?
Should I take it to my mom with the wallpaper still under its fingernail (or is that paw-nail?)?
I was stuck. Was I supposed to lie? No, but I did lie to get out of the trouble I was in, but it actually got me into more trouble. The truth, normally would set you free, but in my case, I got punishment. It was a confused situation, for sure.
In the end, it all was fine, and the cat enjoyed its life of living in a small cage...in a room by itself...in the dark...in the cold...with a constant drip of water, on the top of its head...while I smiled...just another joke (all you cat lovers and PETA folk, just calm down).
Lessons Learned: Telling the truth is always right. Sometimes, life isn’t fair. I will never own a cat again. I have zero wallpaper in my house.
Thoughts: Do you have a devil cat like I did? Do you ever feel life is unfair?
Your story reminds me of what happened over at a friends house a few years back. I was there to help fix a car when this all went down. The dad goes in the house and finds the bay window broken and a baseball laying on the floor. He goes straight out back and starts yelling at his son about braking the window. The kids keeps telling him over and over that he did not do it. He said he had just came from next door and know nothing about any window. He really laid it on that, saying "this is for braking the window and this is for laying about it". I spoke up and told him to stop or he could fix his own car. About 15 minutes later the mother comes in saying she had been across the street to get a big dust pan to clean up the glass where a big bird had flown into it. Dead bird was laying out back. The dad tried to tell the kid he was sorry but I will never forget what the kid told him. "No, dad I will not your accept your apology. I told you that I did not do it and you did not believe me so why should I believe you know? Why should I ever tell you the truth ever again?" The kid then walked off. The dad almost cried. The car did not get fixed that day.
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