No Cats Allowed
I had to go into the office today to tell them that I had lost the key to my mailbox."Good afternoon!" said the receptionist.
"Hi! I kind of have a problem," I said.
"Oh? What can I do for you?"
"Well, I lost my mail key."
"What apt number?"
"14"
"yeah, it has been quite a pain. I have been catching the mailman everyday and he is getting a little fed up with all of that. But I really just thought that it would turn up, ya know? I mean since we all share the one key we always hang it on the key hooks right next to the door. I don't know what could have happened to it. Maybe my cat ate it..."
oops.
We aren't supposed to have cats in my apartment and here I was in the main office announcing to the world that not only do I have a feline friend but that he causes problems.
Actually, I wasn't in the main office yet...
lucky for me I have this fear of phones and secretaries. So before I ever talk to them I rehearse what it is that I am going to say so that they have as little opportunity as possible to get mad at me. So the entire conversation took place in my head as I was walking toward the office. I actually slapped my hand across my mouth (even though I was not talking out loud and no one was around). I stopped about 50 feet from the door and slowly replayed the conversation so as to exclude mention of the cat. Whew! It's a good thing that on occasion I think before I speak.
So I got my new mail key, without fines or scowling. It was really easy. And as I walked out I had a huge grin on my face like the Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, because for a conversation that could have turned out so poorly, this one went rather well.
It sometimes pays to let the cat have your tongue.
posted by Trisha @ 4:41 PM
