People and Cats

I've had a revelation about how people are like cats.

I'm cat sitting for some friends of mine. I have this weird cat allergy that only comes up with certain cats. It's not about long hair vs. short hair, but I can't really figure out what the determining factor is with my allergy. Anyhow, I am allergic to these cats (or at least one of them). But my friends had a family emergency and had to leave suddenly for two weeks, so I volunteered to feed and care for their cats. It's generally ok if I just go in feed them, clean the litter pan, and leave. But if I sit there too long, I get the kitty cat eyes. They look up at you saying "why don't you pet me? I'm a really nice cat? What have I done wrong? Why are you with holding your love from me?" You know that if you touch that cat your eyes will be burning, itching, and blood shot. You know your nose will run and you will sneeze the rest of the day. But how do you tell the cat that? How do you let the cat know that you approve of it completely, but you simply can't give it what it wants? It's not that the cat doesn't deserve to be loved and petted to its heart's content, you just can't do it. So either the cat goes on feeling hurt and dejected or you give in and feel miserable all day long.

Sometimes, people are the same way. They want you to meet certain needs that they have, and you just can't. How do you explain to that person that it's not that you think there is something wrong with them or that you are better than them? It's not that you don't think that they deserve to have that need met. It's just that you can't be the one to meet that need, for whatever reason. It's tough. I think we've all been there and most of us have played both of the roles at one point or another.