The Joy of Giving
March 21st 2011 21:00
Ever since I have become acquainted with two lovely felines otherwise known as Butterscotch and Gingersnap, I have been asking my friends to stop buying me presents for my birthday. If they want to spend money, I ask for it to be donated to the RSPCA or the Cat Protection Society. So far, this has not happened. I still get presents in the form of books.
One year, I asked Aravinda to get me a copy of Chris Tsiolkas’ The Slap, a book I had always wanted to read. By coincidence, Karina gave Aravinda a copy of the same book for his birthday.
“I hope he gets to read it,” said Karina.
“I hope so too. He said it wasn’t the sort of book he would read,” I said and instantly wished I could have stuffed the last couple of words back into my mouth. How could I have been so insensitive?
“Really?” asked Karina. It was too late to do something Brett is very good at doing: backpeddling.
“Well, when he asked me what book I wanted for my birthday, I suggested The Slap. He said he had never heard of it so I said ‘On the cover there’s a picture of a kid lying on the grass, screaming his head off after being slapped. You won’t have problems finding it.’ Aravinda had laughed and said, ‘I don’t think it’s the sort of thing I’d want to read.’
“That said, he’s now a parent so he might look at things differently. Sooner or later he and Eliza have to think about how to discipline their child so he might find it topical.” Like my previous comment, this also came out automatically. Talk about having a brainwave!
“What sort of books do you like to read?” asked Karina.
“Cat books,” I said.
“Since when?”
“Since four years ago.” What planet has she been on? Has she not noticed my devotion to felines? Or my sudden interest in animal supremacy? Or my cat calendars on the wall when she stayed at my place a few weeks ago? Oh, man!
“Do you read Peter Singer?”
“Of course. I’ve read all his animal liberationist books.” To think that two little cats could have changed my life so radically…Maybe I should write my own book.
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