Orange Cat has a favorite saying.
"Cat, do you think the bus will be on time?"
"I'd give it 50-50."
"Cat, will you come visit me in Colorado?"
"I'd give it 50-50."
"Cat, do you think we can get some cheese for lunch?"
"I'd give it 50-50. No, I'm joking. Of course I'm joking. I'd give it a 95."
(Orange Cat knows to not "50-50" cheese to Blue Cat)
Another saying that Orange Cat and I have developed is, "don't let it give you indigestion."
My Slovenian and I have fallen into a couple of pleasant routines during our time together in Oaxaca. One is frozen yogurt at Kühl, one is guacamole at Maui and another is the Hulk smoothie and/or cappuccino at Cafe Ole. As Orange Cat is such an admirable VIBSer, I've taken to ordering both -- so that I have something to pretend to sip while he's still working on the second half of his one drink.
It's a superpower, this VIBSing. Swear to god.
Then there was the morning Orange Cat ordered an omelet and a Hulk and Blue Cat ordered a cappuccino and an omelet.
"But it's so spicy, Cat," Andrej picked at his vegetarian omelet. "I think I can eat half, but if I eat the whole thing, I'll have a stomachache."
"But what makes it so spicy?" I half greedily, half compassionately thrust my fork into my friend's breakfast and chewed thoughtfully. "It doesn't seem so spicy. Is it the cheese? Hmmm... could be the cheese is a bit spicy. I dunno... maybe I'm just getting used to Mexican food."
"It's the first bad meal so far. So I think we're doing pretty good."
"I'd say so. I mean, you've been here for over a week. I guess it was about time you ordered something you didn't like so much. And at least this was sort of cheap. Less than five dollars."
"Even if it was twenty euros, Cat -- should I eat it if it's going to give me indigestion? That's like saying, "I paid twenty euros for my indigestion." The money is already lost... why suffer more?"
Reasons I love Orange Cat. Logic like this.
So instead of breakfasting on his spicy omelet and getting indigestion, Orange Cat gave me his Mexican hat to try out and snapped pictures of my classy new look with his smartphone.
"We should get you a hat too, Cat. You look better in it than I do," Andrej complimented as he slipped his smartphone back into his outside pants pocket. "So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?"
We happily discussed our options while Andrej VIBSed his Hulk. When we stood to go, Orange Cat froze with his hand hovering over his outside pocket.
"I had my phone with me, didn't I?"
"I'm... uh... not sure," I said, immediately forgetting the picture with the hat in my desire for the phone to not be lost.
"No, I'm sure I did. Because I checked the time before getting here."
"Did it fall into the sand?"
"No... " we admitted defeat after sifting through the sand beneath his chair with our shoes.
"And you're sure you didn't leave it at Casa Kei?" I pressed again in vain.
"Sure, Cat. Someone must have taken it out of my pocket."
"But how? I was watching you."
"They must have been pretty good. And you know how we are -- getting lost in conversation. It would have been easy for someone to come up from behind and sneak it out of my pocket."
"I'm sorry, Cat."
"You don't have to be sorry."
"I know... but it's just so stupid."
"I was feeling too safe. I mean, this place feels safe. It's open and friendly and --"
" -- and we've been here so many times before and nothing's happened."
"I know."
"Well... don't let it give you indigestion, Cat."
"I know... but I'm going to feel it a little bit. It's impossible not to."
"I hope you don't feel it too much."
"Let's not let it ruin the mood."
So I lent Orange Cat my defunct iPhone that only sometimes charges... and we proceeded to enjoy the rest of our day. I thought back to the time my 300 dollars was stolen out of Jonas' apartment in Puebla and remembered the horrible case of indigestion that theft had given me.
I have so much to learn from Orange Cat. What a valuable person and perspective to have in my life.
So.
Mantras developed in Mexico include:
a) Girl don't got time for this shit (inspired by my reaction to life at the Sanctuary).
b) Fuck you, I'm a cat (inspired by Fortueni).
c) Fart it out (inspired by Vajra and Joy).
d) Don't let it give you indigestion (inspired by Orange Cat).
It's only been two and a half months... but goodness, I've learned a lot. A lot about standing up for myself in toxic situations. A lot about how rewarding it is to not settle for something that's just okay and to "fuck you, I'm a cat" until I get closer to the full expression of my idyllic life. To let go of past toxicity and to realize that the less I react to current misfortunes, the less misfortunate they'll be.
No comments:
Post a Comment