My cat reminds me that others in the universe might dare to think they are just as important as I am. It’s annoying.
I’m making the bed, and the cat meows pitifully that I might dare disturb her slumber. I’m typing my manuscript, and the cat meows pitifully that I’m not giving enough attention to the feline wonder before me. I’m making lunch, and the cat meows pitifully that my lunch is not the most important thing; her lunch is.
Like I said: annoying. It’s annoying because I don’t like to be reminded that I’m not the most important thing happening today and that others might feel that they matter. A million others lives out there hold equal importance. They sleep, do ordinary tasks, and eat lunch. And they matter as much as any one else.
The cat reminds me that I’m not the most important thing happening right now. It’s funny and annoying to be shamed by your own self-absorbed cat (who I notice as being so precisely because I am).