I have never been a cat person
Cats are unpredictable, sneaky, not loving, and just plain mean.
Last night, however, I had to face my prejudices head on.
I was staying overnight at the home of some friends from church, though they were not home themselves.
I slept in the younger girls' room, which also happens to be the room that the cat likes to hang out in.
When a cat gets near me I get really nervous. I don't know what to do, how to pet it, and I get really scared that it's going to lash out and scratch me if I make any wrong move. It was late, however, and it was nuzzling me as I sat up in bed (I was still too nervous at this time to lie down). Slowly, I began to trust that the cat has no intentions of hurting me - she just kept rubbing her face and head against me and arching her back to let me stroke her. eventually I did lie down and she left to go stalk the house. In the middle of the night, I heard her wining at the door (I had shut it) so I got up to let her in. She followed me back to bed and hopped up - but this time I wasn't nervous of how she would react to my actions. It was dark and I couldn't see her, but she always put her head directly into my hand. I trusted her to accept my company, and she trusted me to give it.
This could very well just be one nice cat and all the rest I meet may be as mean as I've always imagined them to be. But I think now I will approach cats differently and at least give them a chance. After all, a cat seems to be less work to take care off - maybe having a cat would actually be quite enjoyable.
this would probably be the appropriate time to turn this into a metaphor for other prejudices... but I figure you all can fill in the blanks yourself.
