"I wish I knew how to quit you".... Losing Nemo.

I had to baby-sit a cat for a friend for few days. It was quite an experience. After getting over the initial scrambling of getting food/litter for the cat and preparing to take care of another living thing, then waiting for it stop freaking out about being in a brand new place, things settled down. 'Nemo' began finding his way around my 'expansive' studio. Little by little his mannerisms and quirks started getting the best of me. The way he would try and rip open my prized persian rug, or play hide and seek underneath my bed, or freak out every time the door bell rang, or took to my captains chair like it was his personal throne. Which is what brings me to one of my points...Society has driven it into our heads(or at least my head...or maybe its just the voices in my head) that a straight man should have reservations about how he expresses his feelings for another male. So when it came to a cat that was male for some reason it felt awkard saying stuff like :

"He is so cute. " - "He is rubbing up against my leg. " "I wish he was mine" "Look at the way he is cuddling up against me"

I ended up trying to refer to Nemo as a female

Anyway after coordinating with three other friends to get his paperwork/healthwork in order I took him to Newark Cargo where they made me wait a mind numbing 4 and half hours before they finally took Nemo in. (I think I know why Homeland Security doesn't worry about Cargo...an "enemy combatant" would get bored to death before they could do anything). I spent those 4 hours sitting by his cage re-assuring him that everything would be ok in his 18 hour plus cross continental 692$ in cash flight. As they took him away Nemo meowwed a sad goodbye at me.

I'm really going to miss him.... err.......it.