It's quite painful to type today. Read on to find out why.
This cute little girl cat turned up a few days ago and has been hanging around. But comes inside and steals our own cat's food.
So I put a feeler out in the local resident's group and sure enough, the owner identified herself. She texted "just drop her over my fence."
That of course implied catching the little critter before taking it to said fence.
I do have many years of experience dealing with cats. My protection of choice when carrying unknown or skittish cats is to tightly wrap them in a towel so only their face is visible. Claws are safely restrained, and it's not hard to keep the biting equipment out of reach of anything soft. So I readied a thick towel and put it where the cat would not be spooked by this foreign object. Then patted the puss, and carefully tried to pick it up to transfer it to the towel.
Well!
She turned into a ball of claws and teeth. Sank all four of her big front teeth into the base of my thumb, and drove 4 claws into the palm of my hand. Oh, and one claw in the index finger of the other hand for good measure.
Needless to say I yelled, dropped the cat, and retired to nurse my injuries.
I sent a message to the owner saying sorry, her girl would have to find her own way home. She replied "Yes, I can't really pick her up either. Just try to shoo her home."
There are a lot of lessons here. For example...
🔹️ Don't assume you have all the facts. I foolishly accepted the implication that is was possible to pick up the cat and drop her over a fence. If the owner had mentioned that she could not pick it up either earlier, I would have found another way to catch it.
🔹️ No matter how experienced you are, you can still get "bitten" if you do not take proper precautions and if you are not on full alert.
🔹️ Just because it looks innocuous, it doesn't mean it has no weapons and the inclination to use them if it perceives itself crossed.
Now apply this to organisations—big and small—and people you know.
Do we have all the facts about their real agendas and how those may impact us?
Are we so "experienced" dealing with their kind that we have lulled ourself into complacency?
Do we really have adequate precautions in case they unexpectedly and viciously turn on us?
Maybe we are viewing our governments as "innocuous." Ask the Australians now living in the biggest prison in the world, how that went. Also ask the people in Hong Kong who believed the assurance that it would be "business as usual" after the territory was handed back to China.
When you come to the conclusion that your Plan B needs attention, and that Vanuatu might be part of it, book a consultation: https∶//in.vu/cal
Lance (typing ruefully) in Vanuatu
