I’m With The Scottish

I’m not normally superstitious (I’m just a little stitious – name that quote), but this morning I experienced the mother of all superstitions: the dreaded black cat. As I opened my front door to leave for work, an all-black cat bounded across my front porch, through the bushes and down my driveway out of sight. Yup, right across my path.

For a second, I actually froze and wondered what to do next. I imagined all sorts of trouble, from a car accident on the highway to one of the ventilation tubes above my cube at work falling and flattening me. Or something less dramatic but equally painful, like a black widow spider bite or someone accidentally serving me blow fish for lunch. But since calling in superstitious does not exist on our time sheet at work, I was forced the leave the house. (Although really, I understand that something catastrophic could have easily happened at home. I would just prefer to spend my last moments watching Family Feud repeats.)

Backing out of the driveway, I was surprised to see the cat still hanging around on our lawn. He had a friend with him; a big yellow thing lounging on the sewer plate looking relaxed and overly fed. In an instant I knew he was the ringleader, the Al Capone of the group. I stopped the car for a second to stare them down. I wanted to send a tough “don’t mess with my flowerbeds while I’m at work” message. But they eyeballed me right back, probably waiting for my car to burst into flames so they could exchange a feline high-five.

And then I noticed something. The black cat was not a cat at all. Nope, too small. It was just a sweet little kitten. So, I ask, will the curse still befall me? Can there really be a wrath of the black kitten? Will my bad luck be someone snuggling and purring me to death?

Interestingly, I did my superstition homework and found that according to Scottish folklore, a strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity. Hmm. I’ll keep my fingers crossed, but really, I think the only way this thing ends is with more neighborhood cats. Excuse me, kittens.