I’m sorry that I ignored you earlier when you wanted pets.

You see, I was working, and I could not give you pets.

You know that nice canned food you get excited about? And that comfortable bed and cat tree you like to sleep on indoors? I have to work so that you can have those.

You hunt by going outside and eating bugs with your claws and teeth.

I hunt by “working”, which is sitting indoors and staring at a screen. I spend all my time and mental energy pushing buttons so that what’s on the screen changes. I stress out, I get overwhelmed, and I have all sorts of reactions that don’t make sense for someone who is just staring at a plastic box all day. But I must focus my attention completely so that my hunt will be successful.

So when you bring a live grasshopper home and meow at me to tell me you brought me something that I could kill and eat and then get annoyed that I don’t eat it, that’s the same feeling I get when I point at the screen and tell you to fix a font alignment bug and you don’t even start up the source code editor.

All this just to say that I’m sorry that I ignored you earlier when you wanted pets. But it will happen again.