[Hey, You!] 'You Can't Do That'

Matt Bors

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Hey, lady behind the glass partition at the Orange County animal shelter: When you set aside a cat for your friend, make sure you take it off the website so someone else doesn’t get up early in the morning and stand in line for the darn thing. The cat was supposed to be a Christmas present for my daughter, so I checked the website and made sure it was available. I got there early in the morning and was one of the first people in line for your 10 a.m. opening. The guy helping me out also said it was available and started the paperwork so I could bring the fleabag home. You were sitting right next to the guy, and when you found out it was this particular cat, you somehow brought up some paperwork already filled out and said the feline was unavailable. The guy waiting on me turned off the microphone and started arguing with you, and let me tell you, the glass is not that soundproof (“You can’t do that” is one of the sentences I could make out). But he backed off and told me it was unavailable. I complained to the “Big Boss” later, and he told me that someone was probably already visiting with the cat when we started the paperwork, “Happens all the time—miscommunication problem.” My daughter noticed that nobody walked into the kennels behind us and that we were the first ones in line that day along with some people getting dogs. “The only way that could happen is if someone was already in there before they opened” was what my daughter figured out. She’s smart like that. We can always get another cat for Christmas, but thank you for your gift of a valuable lesson learned. Having friends that work in goverment, national or county, really pays off.

Send anonymous thanks, confessions or accusations—changing or deleting the names of the guilty and innocent—to “Hey, You!” c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701-7417, or e-mail us at letters@ocweekly.com.