Changing …. The habit of telling people to change
© 2024, James McLean
This is a personal story this week. I was outside last night feeding our old horse (still a gorgeous boy at 28), and I walked past a wire structure - a cage my other half built two cats ago.
Two cats ago is the measure of time because the structure is a very large cat cage. When the kids came home with a new rehomed kitten from the RSPCA about 20 years ago, my husband decided the cat would not be an outdoor cat. You see, he loves all the native birds that live around our house in the hills.
So, having made this decision, he went out and purchased timber and wire mesh and spent quite some time building a lovely large cat cage outside. He even built the cage around a gum tree so the cat could climb. The wire netting over the top would stop the cat from escaping. He figured we could put the cat inside. The cat would have a nice time outside. The birds would be safe. Win/win/win! Right?
Wrong!
What he overlooked in his plan was changing our habit of just letting the resident cat either in or out of the door as the cat desired!
Remembering to put the cat into the cage was one thing. But then slowly over the next few weeks it became apparent that only my husband was convinced that this was a good idea. The kids all thought it was a bit cruel on the cat. Cat's should be allowed to roam. And they were not convinced that their innocent, sweet-eyed cat would eat birds anyway. Just in case, they put a bell on him.
The cat cage outside is a constant reminder that changing … the idea that you can tell people to change their behaviour, needs changing!
Do you have an example like this?
Where are the 'cat cages' around your workplace or home?
PS: Times have changed; our current pet cat is only an indoor cat. The birds are safe, but I think my lovely girl is sometimes a bit bored.