Apparently even the dime store experts couldn’t tell the difference.
When our kids were growing up, we made sure we introduced them to the joys of parenting various pets.
Most prominent was Thumper, our Black Lab. As a regular blog reader, you probably perused my recent post dedicated to him. You will remember my comment that he was both a serial thief and a cereal thief. He didn’t have a mean bone in his body. It’s just that he couldn’t keep his paws off other people’s stuff.
We also had two cats. One was named Nutmeg, and she was a recluse. The other was Myrtle, a cat who thought she was a dog. She couldn’t get enough of people. We’ll save Myrtle for a future blog all about her and nobody else.
Before we had the cats (you will see why this detail is important in a minute), our other pets were two male mice I brought home from the local F.W. Woolworth dime store as a surprise birthday gift for Karen. I insisted on males only. They could keep each other company in an aquarium tank on our kitchen counter that we converted into a home for male mice. Bet a lot of women reading this blog wished they had such a thoughtful husband.... Remember, I also brought home Thumper as a surprise. What a guy!
All was fine until one of the male mice gave birth to a litter of little ones. Now the aquarium was host to a real family of mice. They were well-protected in the aquarium tank until one day when a little one somehow got up and out of the tank and down to the counter. That was not a good day. It was a harbinger of things to come.
The house we lived in had a laundry chute that went directly from the second floor to the basement with an opening in the kitchen if anyone had anything they wanted to have washed in the basement laundry room.
The little ones got bigger (and bigger) and soon taught each other how to climb out of the aquarium tank to play on the counter. This became a very well-scrubbed (as in clean) counter top.
One day, we noticed that one of the mice was missing. How could that be? Where was the little guy (or guyette)? Remember, we did not have the cats yet, so there was no danger that this baby had become lunch for Nutmeg and Myrtle.
A couple of days later, Karen took a bed sheet out of the washing machine to transfer it to the dryer. Plop.... out fell a mouse. One of the most well-washed, cleanest and deadest mice of all time wouldn’t be missing anymore. The missing mouse was found, but just a couple of washing machine cycles too late.
The moral of this 100% true story is never buy two male mice unless you are prepared for one of them to produce an entire additional family.
Karen took the remaining litter (including the two "dads") back to F.W. Woolworth. She didn’t even ask for a refund.
DY: In Just a Few Words is a blog that comes out when something needs to be said or every Tuesday - whichever comes first. Davis Young is a communications professional who adds 50+ years of experience and perspective to issues of the day. His emphasis in DY: In Just a Few Words will be humor (a touch of sarcasm here, a pinch of facetiousness there...). Once in a while, he will touch on something a bit more serious - but hopefully not too deep or depressing.
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