©March 2008

Carol Jane Remsburg

 

 

High School Experiment

 

 

So like Pavlov's dogs, my teen has her Psychology 101 experiment to perform.  She felt she could train the cats in the house to eat at a different location.  What she did was for five days, MOVE their food and water bowls from the hallway by the back door into the kitchen—just where my kitchen trashcan stood.

 

Now my kitchen trashcan is of a commercial type, I balked at the move, the experiment, hoping to dissuade her in some fashion, but she was adamant.  What she was doing, wasn't trying to re-train the cats, it was to disrupt my entire life while I was at home.  Trust me on this.

 

Animals will find their food where they will.  Trust me, they have zero problems seeking out the food and water whether the house be large or small, or even if you attempt to hide it.  Every last feline found their way to the NEW location within the hour—or MUCH LESS.  They would have done the same if the litter boxes had been moved as well. 

 

It's part of their genetic makeup, relocating their food isn't a big deal to them.

 

HOWEVER, the shift of 15 feet of my kitchen trashcan from four feet away to fifteen feet away and behind me, gave me more than just a twitch.  I had so many false starts and shifts it's driven me nuts.  Oh, and like hubby who has shuffled my spice cabinet and certain items disappeared that he claimed were NEVER there to begin with was the start.  Then he, filled with sudden inspiration, decided to play with my two utensil drawers, both flatware and cooking utensils.  I can't find anything anymore, and frustration mounts.

 

Yet the shift where my trusted kitchen trashcan has stood for the last twenty years to FAR away, when I've got sink goop in my hands, or the remains of cooking stuff I need to get rid of…and it's not there.

 

I can't keep from stopping to instantly turn where I always have in the past.  After nine days of hell, I don't care anymore.  I moved the kitty food and water back to where it was designed to be and put my trashcan back where it belongs. 

 

Animals can be trained quickly.  40+ old ladies living in the same locale for more than 20 years have ISSUES when you start messing with their kitchens.  I've had to stomach the tussle of the spice cabinet and may favorite drawers for utensils---after the hubby he's NEW to cooking has begun to take over.  No that he can manage dishes, don't let me start on what he does with a dishwasher making me wash them ALL over again.

 

A kitchen, is a ONE-PERSON'S ownership.  If the male is the kitchen person, he takes care of it all.  Hubby suddenly LIKES to cook, not clean, mind you, 10 pots for something that should take 3.  No clean up afterwards and if that actually happens, he'll overload the dishwasher so you have to take it all out and handwash them and do two loads to clean them properly and scrub down the counters with bleach.

 

When I come home from work at night, it's like I've encountered an alien planet.  Where the HELL is my trashcan?  How do I clean out my drain sink stopper?  No that it was nearly fifteen feet away, I can't stop the dribble.

 

So tonight, after all the hell of the last ten days, all of them….I didn't care.  I knew that "I couldn't be trained"…my beloved trashcan has been moved back to where it belongs.

 

Thank HEAVENS, I don't think I could stand it much longer.  Don't try to train me anymore, I'm too old and not up for it.

 

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