Cats Will Be Cats

I’m waiting in line for one of the cash registers at a supermarket I only occasionally go to for specific items my local store doesn’t have. It seems like business as usual until the cashier turns away for a moment to grab something. As the automatic doors open to let a customer leave, a cat slips into the store and darts past the cash register and several surprised customers toward the back of the store.

The customer in front of me talks to the cashier.

Customer: “Um, miss? A cat just ran in.”

The cashier is not bothered one bit.

Cashier: “Oh, yeah, he comes in here sometimes.”

A moment later, a young woman comes into the store whom the cashiers clearly recognize.

Young Woman: “Is he…?”

Cashier: *Pointing* “Toward the back.”

The woman quickly makes her way to the back of the store, calling out:

Young Woman: “[Cat], come here, kitty, kitty, kitty!”

Most customers were chuckling by now, and even more when the woman returned shortly after with the cat in her arms. The animal had a look on its face that seemed to say, “Why do you insist on ruining my fun, human?”

The young woman went to take him home, which was apparently the student housing above the store. The cashier mentioned that his owners try to keep him away from the store, but cats are cats, and sometimes he just wanders in. He never damages anything and doesn’t bother people, so nobody sees a reason to make a fuss over it. If anything, I gathered that most people think it’s funny. It certainly made me smile.