Playing Favorites
“It’s a little bit funny,
This feeling inside;
It’s not one of those
You can, easily hide…”
--Elton John, “Your Song” from the album Elton John, 1971.
Pam has her cat that favors her, as I do mine. Foggy, well, she is a neutral being for the time.
Guinness is clearly “my” cat as he sits with me and follows me wherever I go. He, like me, enjoys his moments of solitude as he sleeps downstairs—which is fine. He loves a good brushing and he seems at home resting with me on the chair.
Dylan is clearly “Pam’s” cat and truly dislikes me because I give him his pills. He sits with Pamela and wants her to rub his head. He meows at her for attention and sits close to her lap, but he is not quite there yet. He hates to be brushed and likes a belly rub.
Foggy is “my” cat by default because Pepto was so much Pamela’s cat. I was sloppy seconds, which I can handle. My ego is not so fragile. She is my little (i.e. runt) girl. What she lacks in courage, she more than makes up in spirit.
It is a bit funny how they favor one or the other in this life.
Whereas they may favor us, we do not favor them. Which is a lesson I learned as a result of teaching: all my kids are my favorites. I am amazed at how gifted they all are, and they know they are “one of mine” in my class. I respect them all, try to understand them all, and will help them all.
I treat my students like I would want to be treated, and if one bothers me, I just believe I have not found the right quality yet that makes him or her special. So in the end, like the cats, I favor them all.
Fortunately for me, Social Sciences are popular because we explore the quest that is true humanity and achievement. At the same time, we ask who, what, where, when—but we really concentrate on the how’s and why’s. We reach out to a type of student that the others may not find and we feel that through exploration, research, and discovery that the goal is to achieve a greater understanding of the quality of mankind and social structures.
Sounds a bit heady, but the same is true of the selection of cats.
They reach out for the one that suits their personality and their preference in this life. They judge a bit quickly, but the cats reach a point of understanding and compromise with the human with whom they reside. The difference between a cat and a dog is that a dog knows its owner and a cat knows its caretaker.
Cats are so much more "human;" although I think mine would take that comment as an insult.
This feeling inside;
It’s not one of those
You can, easily hide…”
--Elton John, “Your Song” from the album Elton John, 1971.
Pam has her cat that favors her, as I do mine. Foggy, well, she is a neutral being for the time.
Guinness is clearly “my” cat as he sits with me and follows me wherever I go. He, like me, enjoys his moments of solitude as he sleeps downstairs—which is fine. He loves a good brushing and he seems at home resting with me on the chair.
Dylan is clearly “Pam’s” cat and truly dislikes me because I give him his pills. He sits with Pamela and wants her to rub his head. He meows at her for attention and sits close to her lap, but he is not quite there yet. He hates to be brushed and likes a belly rub.
Foggy is “my” cat by default because Pepto was so much Pamela’s cat. I was sloppy seconds, which I can handle. My ego is not so fragile. She is my little (i.e. runt) girl. What she lacks in courage, she more than makes up in spirit.
It is a bit funny how they favor one or the other in this life.
Whereas they may favor us, we do not favor them. Which is a lesson I learned as a result of teaching: all my kids are my favorites. I am amazed at how gifted they all are, and they know they are “one of mine” in my class. I respect them all, try to understand them all, and will help them all.
I treat my students like I would want to be treated, and if one bothers me, I just believe I have not found the right quality yet that makes him or her special. So in the end, like the cats, I favor them all.
Fortunately for me, Social Sciences are popular because we explore the quest that is true humanity and achievement. At the same time, we ask who, what, where, when—but we really concentrate on the how’s and why’s. We reach out to a type of student that the others may not find and we feel that through exploration, research, and discovery that the goal is to achieve a greater understanding of the quality of mankind and social structures.
Sounds a bit heady, but the same is true of the selection of cats.
They reach out for the one that suits their personality and their preference in this life. They judge a bit quickly, but the cats reach a point of understanding and compromise with the human with whom they reside. The difference between a cat and a dog is that a dog knows its owner and a cat knows its caretaker.
Cats are so much more "human;" although I think mine would take that comment as an insult.
posted by Eric Sweetwood at 5:21 PM
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