Dirty Birdies
So would anyone in San Francisco like a pair of parakeets?
Big Son took the news quite well. He is disappointed, but - let`s face it, they are not very affectionate birds, to say the least. They bonded with each other, not with the human members of our family, and I dare say that wherever they go, they will not miss us at all. Big Son enjoyed watching them, and he was very adept at catching Tiger, the green one, but Tiger never seemed to enjoy being handled much -- and Shiro, the white one, clearly didn`t like it at all.
I will miss hearing their cheerful twittering in the morning, but I will not miss nagging Big Son to vacuum up the seeds.
There are plenty of bird rescue groups in the Bay Area who help in situation like ours, but if possible, I want to give our birds to someone we know, so that Big Son can sometimes visit them. And I know not all rescue groups are equal -- some aren`t very picky about new placements, and I don`t want our timid, antisocial birdies to end up somewhere like a preschool classroom, where little fingers will be poking them (or worse) all day long.
Ed, the old man down the street, is thinking about taking the birds, but I`m not going to try to persuade him if he seems reluctant for any reason.
He was very insistent that the guinea pigs come back to him, and not go to a guinea pig rescue group.
"Those groups don`t always give them love," he said, emphatically.
Several people have suggested sneaking our pets into the new house, anyway, because the landlords live three hours away, not next door. But that seems wrong to me, since it`s their house and they obviously feel very strongly about this. We signed a two-year lease -- they will be in our lives for a while.
I`m looking at the landlord`s email again. It says,
"We`re against having any pets at all (not even parakeets). That's why we had listed the house on Craig's List as "No Pets." I was surprised that the real estate agent didn't alert me to this when you had originally applied. "
He is surprised that he wasn`t alerted.
We are dirty people, with dirty pets, and he should have been alerted to this. Forget our excellent credit report and glowing references from our current landlord and neighbors --- we are the kind of people who should have raised an ALERT.
Yes, I am reading too much into that word, and thinking about it too much.
That`s some very good fodder for the next time I have insomnia.
Big Son took the news quite well. He is disappointed, but - let`s face it, they are not very affectionate birds, to say the least. They bonded with each other, not with the human members of our family, and I dare say that wherever they go, they will not miss us at all. Big Son enjoyed watching them, and he was very adept at catching Tiger, the green one, but Tiger never seemed to enjoy being handled much -- and Shiro, the white one, clearly didn`t like it at all.
I will miss hearing their cheerful twittering in the morning, but I will not miss nagging Big Son to vacuum up the seeds.
There are plenty of bird rescue groups in the Bay Area who help in situation like ours, but if possible, I want to give our birds to someone we know, so that Big Son can sometimes visit them. And I know not all rescue groups are equal -- some aren`t very picky about new placements, and I don`t want our timid, antisocial birdies to end up somewhere like a preschool classroom, where little fingers will be poking them (or worse) all day long.
Ed, the old man down the street, is thinking about taking the birds, but I`m not going to try to persuade him if he seems reluctant for any reason.
He was very insistent that the guinea pigs come back to him, and not go to a guinea pig rescue group.
"Those groups don`t always give them love," he said, emphatically.
Several people have suggested sneaking our pets into the new house, anyway, because the landlords live three hours away, not next door. But that seems wrong to me, since it`s their house and they obviously feel very strongly about this. We signed a two-year lease -- they will be in our lives for a while.
I`m looking at the landlord`s email again. It says,
"We`re against having any pets at all (not even parakeets). That's why we had listed the house on Craig's List as "No Pets." I was surprised that the real estate agent didn't alert me to this when you had originally applied. "
He is surprised that he wasn`t alerted.
We are dirty people, with dirty pets, and he should have been alerted to this. Forget our excellent credit report and glowing references from our current landlord and neighbors --- we are the kind of people who should have raised an ALERT.
Yes, I am reading too much into that word, and thinking about it too much.
That`s some very good fodder for the next time I have insomnia.
posted by L. at 8:45 AM
3 Comments:
Dear Snippy Landlord:
Yes, it IS surprising the realtor did not alert you, especially since I asked said realtor if birds and guinea pigs qualified as pets or if you were simply referring to the usual cats and dogs who roam the house freely and distribute allergens willy nilly.
So sorry you are so upset by this. It was simply an attempt at clarification and not a personal attack on you.
Thank you for clarifying the issue, you uptight, anal-retentive, passive-aggressive control freak.
Warm Regards,
Your new tenant
_______________
Heh. Found you through...uh, now I'm not sure. The Zero Boss? Anyway, I am a new reader and you crack me up. Good luck with the move.
We're still looking for a home for our parakeets. They live in our bedroom and that's where the baby will sleep. When husband rescued the bird from the garbage I don't think we realized that these birds would be causing so much trouble. I hope you find someone and so do we.
Gack, that makes me sick to my stomach... I'm glad that the kids aren't taking it TOO hard!
No fish?!? I think we are well past the threshold of pathology here.
& Medea, my cats shared my baby's cradle w/no ill effects to anyone. As long as the parakeets have been screened for psittacosis & intestinal parasites I can't imagine they could bring any harm to your new baby other than nipped fingers when he/she is big enough to poke at 'em...
Sincerely yours, Another Dirty Pet Owner (not to mention your friendly neighborhood DVM) -- Dr Val
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