Who is this man and what did he do with Mr. Pop?

Over the past years anytime a stray animal showed up in our yard, I was the weak minded soft hearted person who gave the animal food and water. Each time I did this Mr. Pop warned me that I was setting myself up for problems and usually a heartbreak. For the most part he was proven correct.

Last week someone dropped off three little kittens who found their way to our backyard. I tried to steel myself and avoid looking at them or getting involved with them. I was doing pretty good too. Mr. Pop kept assuring me that he thought one of our neighbors was feeding the kittens and that they looked just fine to him. He was helping me fight my unspoken fight.

Saturday afternoon a man came into our house who looked exactly like Mr. Pop and he was carrying a bag of kitten food. Sunday morning the little feral kittens were playing around in the flowers in our backyard. This new Mr. Pop was watching them from the patio and I was inside our house. He came inside and told me he thought the kittens looked hungry. For a few minutes I didn’t do anything but then I took out an old Tupperware bowl and put about a cup or so of the kitten food in it. I passed this new Mr. Pop on the patio as I was going out to give the kittens their food. As I passed him I asked, “Thanks for the guilt trip, how much is it going to cost me?” He just smiled at me.

So now it appears Mr. Pop, the sensible, sane, reasonable man has been replaced by this new weak minded soft hearted man. I mean Mr. Pop has always had a giant heart when it comes to all animals but now this new Mr. Pop has become as squishy as I am. Yikes, we’re in trouble!