Today, in the snow storm spirit, I went to the store to stock up. I got eggs, chicken, yogurt, the very last loaf of white bread in the store, and a few other necessities. The bread isle was hilarious...
...the only loafs left were things like "whole wheat raisin fat free" and gluten free bread, except the last loaf of white bread that I snatched, but even that was "thin sliced 40 calorie white bread." No bunny bread to be found. But I'm glad to know the upper east side residents are well stocked up for the storm.
When I went to check out I realized that the check out line had wrapped around the front of the store and back through the yogurt isle. So I began to wait, and you know how they put little goodies to buy in the check out isle so you'll buy more before you leave? Imagine if the line wrapped around the whole store. I ended up buying eggs, bacon, yogurt, and cranberry juice just from waiting in line (I only came to the store for Coke and bread!)
While in line I was on the phone using my headphones, and I'm not sure if the woman in front of me thought I was talking to her or not, but either way she started responding to me. Shortly after I hung up she realized I had been on the phone and apologized, I said no worries, and thus sparked our conversation.
She told me how she is not going to leave her apartment until Wednesday, and that she realized she was one can of cat food short, then she ended up buying a cartload of other things while at the store. I asked her how many cats she had..."Sixteen!" she replied, ecstatic. Then I started to really look at her. She was a sweet older woman, gray hair in a bun, no make up, wearing a long raggedy coat covered top to bottom with cat hair. Holy crap, cat ladies...they exist! I thought to myself. We continued to talk and she told me all of their names and their ages. Simba, Peaches and Simon are the names I remember, and the oldest age was 19, not bad for a cat! It was sweet hearing her talk about the cats. She said the majority were "foster cats" but she "knows they're with her to stay."
People always say "stereotypes are stereotypes" for a reason, but I had never had a moment like that where I met someone who could have been a walking definition of one. As we talked about her cats it made me realize that I'd never thought about the heart it takes to be a cat lady. I've heard of cat ladies all my life, and I mean yes, I knew they liked cats obviously, but hearing her talk about her cats like that made me really happy. It's good to see animals being treated with care and in a good home.
After we chatted about her kittens, we discussed our plans for the upcoming blizzard we said our "nice to meet you!"s and "stay warm!"s, and went on our way. I hope her and her feline friends stay warm and cozy this week.
This concludes the story of the cat lady and the blizzard!
There will be more on the storm to come :)
(Winter is Coming!!!)
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