Fellow Cat Owner Encounter

So I always seem to have little adventures on my way to or from Buffalo on the lovely Thruway, and yesterday’s trip was not at all disappointing. I stopped at a rest stop somewhere near east bumble fuck and decided to get a cup of coffee. Upon exiting my vehicle, leaving poor booty looking longingly out at me as I closed the door, I was startled when I turned around and saw a hippie-looking fellow standing right next to me.

“Awww,” he sighed, “How precious.” “God, I hope he’s not talking about me,” I thought nervously as I tried to take in his unsightly appearance and decipher the dreamy look that gleamed in his eye. He looked like a ragamuffin, with greasy hair, hemp necklaces (there were four or five in a tangled mess hanging around his neck), a tie dye t-shirt with several holes in it, and cut-off jean shorts – true redneck hippie jorts. “hmmm,” I thought, trying to figure this strange character out.

As I mentally appraised his appearance, I noticed what he was focusing his attention on. Boots. He approached my car window slowly and smooshed his nose against the glass. That’s right, I am not exaggerating, I literally had an oily nose smudge left on my window when he departed.

“Oh, what a sweet little kitty you have here. My, my. How adorable,” he cooed. “How weird!” was the only thing running through my mind as I was figuring out how to deal with this hippie visitor who had an obvious infatuation with my cat.

“Can I ask you how long?” he peeled his nose from my window and looked at me intently. “How long?” I asked him, bewildered. “How long is your journey?” he was still staring at me, so focused on how I might answer. After getting past the fact that he said journey, I was like “Oh, 7 hours. I’m going from Buffalo to New Jersey.” “Fabulous!” he exclaimed excitedly. (Whatttt???)

“I have been training my cat to journey with me long distance!” he explained. “Ok?” was my response. I was still so dumbfounded by this strange encounter, especially since cat-hippie had his nose pressed back against my car window and he was moving his finger back and forth trying to get a reaction out of boots who looked very annoyed at this disturbance of his peace.

“I have been training my cat since she was a kitten,” he looked back at me again, tearing his eyes away from my feline friend. I couldn’t get past the fact at how bizarre this situation was. “One day we will drive to… California!” He was so energized, I was really still so confused.

“Well, good luck on the last leg of your journey!” hippie man said, as he waved goodbye to Boots through the car window. “And goodbye owner friend” he said, glancing at me as he began to walk away. Owner friend? “Bye,” I responded as I watched him frolic back to his Volkswagen van. He would drive that car, and scamper away like that, I thought to myself as I walked into the rest stop. How peculiar.