Talking Cats, Not Beer

MY LIQUOR STORE is way out in the country, and I don't drink much. When I drive thru, the ladies are all hard core country, not very friendly. This time, the blonde handed me back my debit card, and shut the window. No beer. A moment of shock and horror. In about two seconds she reopened it, chuckled, and joked, mumbling: "that was rude". Then she handed me my beer. Greatly relieved, I said; "No prolbem. But that's happened here several times. The lady over there did it to me about a week ago, I recall". She said: "We were having a conversation about cats,", as if cats automatically cause people to forget about beer. I replied: "Oh good! I love cats. I'll just sit here an listen!" Said she: "We have several that we are trying to find homes for. I hope we don't have to take thenm to the animal shelter". Me: "So do I. Its better to fix 'em, vaccinate 'em, and let 'em run free. Stray cats seem to get along fairly well. They seem to find enough to eat, generally." She didn't like this. I 9quickly pointed out that I was talking about only a last resort to avoid killing cats; I intended to emphasize the spay and neutering aspect. But she still wasn't happy. Grudginegly she acknowledged that she's rather a cat live as a stray than be euthenized because its a nuisance to humans. But she went on. "Song birds are disappearing. Some have already vanished. I think we need to reintroduce them back into the ecosystem. We need to protect birds. She went on talking about the apparent drastic decrease in the general bird population over the recent past, and about how stray cats prey on birds, and so forth. I already knew all about it, of course. Estimates are than cats in the United States kill as least one billion birds every year, maybe two or three times that number. Plus, over the past fifty years, bird populations have diminished becaue of other human activities, such as air and water pollution, destruction of habitat, pesticides, etc. Overall, there has evidently been aat least a one third decrease n the general bird population. She spoke in a rather confident, aggressive manner, as if she really had to seriously emphasize her point so that I would be able to understand it, and would have the good sense and decency to agree with her. Really, she didn't need to. I was a bird fan efore you were born, kid..no, I didn't say that. I didn't say anything, except I kept nodding "yes" to her, smiling, and making eye contact, and repeating: "yes"....."I agree"..."sure". Her presentation was articulate, and persuasive. I have vaguely known this woman for several years, but have only engaged in the briefest, most cursory converstaion with her. She and I don't seem to be too terribly fond of each other, somehow. Within one minute she said more to me at the drive thru liquor window about saving birds than she had ever said to me before, about anything, more than she is ever likley to say to me again, at one time or altogether, about anything. And, the truth is, I found myself admiring her, happy that an apparently only informally educated liquor store employee would know enough and care enough about environmental health to hold forth so well. Maybe, after all, there is hope... When she seemed to be finished, I enthusiastically reiterated only that I fully, completely agreeed with her, and thanks for the beer! (which she almost forgot to give me). What I did not do was try to talk to her, to say "I already knew all that" to her, or anything conveying irritation with her for her aggressive, lecturing style. Some battles are better left unfought. I smiled, and stepped on the gas. There was a car in line behind me, thank goodness.