That nasty cat.

As supervisor of the ambulance district, I gave my undivided attention to a disgruntled employee who had come to the end of his rope with another Paramedic.
"Just fire him," he said, "I can't take it anymore, and you know he gets on everyone's nerves."
He had just related an incident to me of the 'straw that broke the camel's back'. I knew there was no ignoring this situation anymore but the Medic in question was excellent when working in the field and each partner had acknowledged this, even the man in my office who was complaining.
After he cooled down a little he expected me to march out and fire the employee, or as he put it, he would quit himself.
I started talking. "My daughter found a beautiful black, long haired cat, which looks similar to a Persian. The cat is so beautiful she named it her favorite name, Felicia. Felicia only wants to be petted when she asks for it, otherwise she complains if you take her on your lap and she doesn't want to move from the back of the couch. Felicia keeps herself well groomed and has beautiful eyes.
She never greets visitors but never bothers them unless they try to pick her up. Many of them will get a cat scratch as she tries to get out of their arms. I decided to make her a barn cat due to her prissy ways, this might teach her what she missed. She often followed me to the barn as I carried food out . When she started getting underfoot following me, I started booting her out of the way hollering nasty things to her. She then hissed at me and tried to slap my foot. This became a daily routine. What a nasty cat!
After a few weeks of this, I decided to quit pushing her out of the way and invited her to follow me, which she did without hissing and slapping me (although she did complain loudly). I even invited her in the house again where she took up residence and crawls on laps but only when she wants to. "
After telling this story I smiled at my employee and told him I had work to do. He left my office steaming that I had never listened to a word he had said.
Later that morning he came in and asked. "You weren't just telling a silly story, were you? You were trying to tell me something." I said what do you think?
Another visit from him that day, completed his thought. He said, "I think the medic has a personality I didn't like and I think I antagonized him making it impossible for me to work with him. You may put me back on schedule with him now, we can work together."This is only one of many stories of animals and people in my life.