My sister has two kids around the same age as Colby & Sonya. Friday, Colby stayed with Jacob and Madison came home with Sonya and I. We stopped at the pet store so Sonya could use her own money to buy a gerbil. We've had gerbils before and hamsters and guinea pigs and rabbits - as well as dogs, cats & fish. I think that's it. Anyhow, all of the rodents have met untimely deaths, usually at the paws of the cats!
So we go to the pet store and Sonya picks the gerbil she wants and some food & supplies for it. She paid $2.99 for the gerbil. Halfway home Madison says she really wishes she could have gotten a gerbil. I tell her I would have bought her one if she would have said something and we'll ask her mom & go back & get one tomorrow.
Mom says yes, and reluctantly, dad OKs the new pet, too. So Christmas Eve, I am shopping, not at all near the pet store where we bought Sonya's gerbil, so I go into Petco. I look and look for gerbils but I don't see any. I'm getting a little frantic because I've been putting Madison off since Friday and I promised her I'd have her gerbil when she came down on Christmas day.
Finally, I find a salesperson and ask if there are any gerbils left - she says yes, I have one little black one left - Great! I don't care what it looks like as long as it's a gerbil. I follow her to the rodent area. Sure enough, there's a little black gerbil nestled in the corner of the cage. I quickly look at the price, knowing I'll have to pay more than $2.99, but how much could it be and this is my last stop - the price.....
$13.99 - wtf? ARe you kidding me? I mean I was willing to pay a little more, but over 4 times as much? I don't think so! So I said - Is this price correct? She said yes as she was scooping the little guy out and I said well, never mind. I just bought one in Bonne Terre for $2.99 and she said - get this...
Oh, well this one is an Egyptian Slick-haired gerbil and it's special. Huh? What can it do - flips? Will it jump out of the cage and hit the snooze button for me or at least get up and make the coffee? I say none of this to the clerk, though I'm sure she read my mind and then I said 'No, thanks! I don't need a special gerbil - besides the cat will probably get it before too long anyway!' The look on her face was priceless - but not worth $13.99.
I called and begged my brother-in-law to run to Bonne Terre and get me a gerbil for which I would gladly pay him $2.99 plus gas money! He agreed and saved Christmas for me - and he didn't even charge me. I guess it was paybacks for us hauling his new 56" flatscreen TV home for him. It sure pays to do for others:)
Sonya is happy, Madison is happy, my brother-in-law, Robert is happy - and I'm sure the Egyptian Slick-haired gerbil is happy to be safe in it's cage at Petco and not in a cage with a flimsy lid that cats can get in to very easily. Everyone wins!
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2 comments:
Well, hell...1st the dog in 'I Am Legend' and now I'm gonna be worrying about Madison's gerbil. Geeze, I'm never gonna get any sleep again.
I'm glad she got it though! Yay brother!
I paid $6 for Kid L's hamster when she was 3. It promptly developed a UTI and I spent $36 on the vet bill.
Guinea Pigs are about $35 a piece plus the humongous cages, igloos, and such. NSBH's has visited the vet once to the tune of $70. There will be no more rodent trips to the vet unless one needs to be put down.
Same goes for the cats. I have informed them all that I do not love any of them enough to spend the thousands of dollars I did on my beloved and still dead favorite cat.
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