Being Nice is Stupid: A Lesson Learned from My Cat

My cat is the nicest cat in the world (I'm sorry, she just is -- I will not believe any cat is nicer than my cat). She looooves people, and she is very, very, very good with children. She'll let them pet her for as long as they're interested, even though child-petting is rather similar to hitting. She doesn't like it when I brush her, but she'll let a child brush her, although, once again, not particularly refined technique on the part of the child.

However. One child at the gathering we held yesterday is somewhere on the autism spectrum, and displays classic lack of empathy. He like cats, and particularly cat tails. He likes to grab cat tails. Or cat legs. Whatever he can get his hands on. Which cats do not appreciate, like, at all. Which causes the cat to fight to get away, which causes the child to grip harder, which hurts the cat. This cat, being the nicest cat in the world, just meowed at him. She would run away, but not far and not fast, and she categorically would not bite or scratch him (I told her she could, but unfortunately cats do not speak English). So he continued to torment her every time no one was looking (and often when someone was), until I locked the cat up in a bedroom. Which made the cat sad, because she missed out on all the petting from all the other people there.

So the lesson here is that it's stupid to be nice. If someone is hurting you or bothering you, run away. Get yourself to where that person can't get at you. If running away isn't a desirable or possible option, fight back. Bite. Scratch. If you continue to be nice in the face of torment, you will continue to be tormented. He who hurts you deserves to be hurt back -- if he doesn't know any better, teach him!

Being nice is stupid.