Lost cats, trucks and the magic of critical thinking
- Melissa Herrera: Not Waiting for Friday
- March 12, 2023
- 631
The age of critical thinking is dead. We are a reactive society that jumps into our perspective corners at the drop of a red hat. I count myself as “sometimes” reactionary but only because I write about things. If I didn’t, I’d probably sit inside my house and react to my cats all day. They’re more fun and entertaining than almost anything else, except grandchildren.
Last week one of my cats disappeared for 48 hours. He is 5 years old and is my big baby. I had all sorts of thoughts running around in my head, some not so nice. Is he lying in a ditch somewhere? Did he jump in the washer and I didn’t notice? Did he run away after he bit my ankle because he was hungry? Did someone shoot him?
Honestly, my cats are like my kids. When we would go on any lengthy road trip, I would need to turn around and count three separate heads at least five times until I was sure we hadn’t left one behind. This is not reactionary, maybe a little OCD — which I do have — but at least I knew each child was accounted for.
My cats follow me around all day, and when one of them disappears or veers from the norm, I know something is off. For two days I called and called him. I finally found him trapped in a nearby building unable to get out. Had I let my reactionary thoughts take over, I would’ve blamed the whole neighborhood for conspiring to get rid of my fur baby.
I am not a dog person, but I would never hurt one. I’d like to believe people who don’t like cats would never hurt one, but I’ve heard too many instances of kitties coming home shot with BB guns and so forth. I just had a chat with a worker at a local market who had her cat come home after being shot with a gun. The bullet went straight through its body, where it missed all vital organs and came out the tail. My mom and dad used to tell us horror stories of what their parents did to unwanted kitty litters on the farm. Shudder.
Instead of being reactive, I tried to stay logical. He is a good cat that never strays. I knew I would find him. The same goes for anything that sets us off or worries us. Logical thinking, instead of flying off the handle, saves the day in the end. When we react quickly or negatively to what’s happening around us, it usually ends badly.
Granted, we do need to let it out at times. I have friends I can bounce things off and feel safe to share things with. We all need those people in our lives. Some of us don’t feel like we can share things we’re concerned about. We might feel we’ll be looked at in a weird way or told we’re just imagining things. Some of us feel alone. Everyone is treated just a bit differently because of who or what we are and represent. That’s too bad because our feelings are valid — they mean something. They are important.
Imagine if someone was revving trucks up and down the street in front of your house for days on end. The people doing it might think it’s fun, but the people that live on that street would feel cornered in their own homes, unable or unsure of how to convey what they’re feeling. It’s a helpless sort of feeling that requires not being reactionary, but logical. Thinking through each step to take to remedy the situation is the key to any dilemma. Sometimes the problem feels big and takes much critical thinking, but that’s better than getting out your BB gun and shooting at something. That solves nothing.
Melissa Herrera is a columnist, published author and drinker of too many coffees based in Holmes County. You can find her book, “TOÑO LIVES,” at www.tinyurl.com/Tonolives or buy one from her in person (because all authors have boxes of their own novel). For inquiries or to purchase, email her at junkbabe68@gmail.com.