Cat Pee

Daisy, Momo, Bamako: take note.

A package from my brother, Scott, who lives in Ellensburg, Washington, arrived recently, stuffed with some items we'd ordered from REI for a New Zealand ski trip we're planning for July. It was part of a plan we had for saving money on international shipping; I'd left my ski pants in the United States, so we had the gear mailed to him and asked Scott to add the pants to the package from REI and send the whole bundle together. 

As I rummaged though the box I discovered this note written by my nephew, Ben, who is 6. It reads:

Please do not let the cats pee in my bedroom. Thank you! --Ben

I dwelled on this for a bit, and three scenarios offer possible explanations:

1.) Ben wrote this to me, thinking I have some regulatory control over Daisy, Momo and Bamako from this great distance. (Alas, I do not.)

2.) Ben wrote the note to his parents, Scott and Kara, who either: a.) deemed it a pathetic and futile request and sent it to me at the expense of Ben's dignity, as if to say, "Dig this, Pete", or b.) have already taken appropriate measures to make Ben's bedroom a less attractive place to tinkle, and  included the note as a charming token from back home.

3.) Demonstrating a textbook example of passive-aggressive behaviour, Ben wrote this to the cats, assuming that while Scott was preparing the shipment, Daisy, Momo and Bamako would succumb to typical feline curiosity and inspect the box, thereby discovering the note and feeling chastised without the embarrassment of a confrontation.

Given that my ski pants smell like cat pee, I pick number 3.