Concepts like stereotyping and ethnic prejudice are things that are always meant within the context of the human race. But shouldn’t these be broadened to include more than just humans?
An Am I The A-Hole? post has recently raised that question. Sorta.
One Reddit user turned to the AITA community for some answers on whether he’s the bad guy for “perpetuating ethnic stereotypes” about a particular cat that’s taken up residence in his company building.
Oh yeah, you’re in for a treat, dear readers.
Meet Jorts and Jean (respectively), two office cats that have been going viral recently because of an argument
Image credits: throwawayorangecat
Meet u/throwawayorangecat (with whom Bored Panda got in contact) who some days ago came to the Am I The A-Hole community on Reddit with a very peculiar query. While the subreddit is primarily dedicated to figuring out issues in relationships, it’s a fairly unique occurrence to see a post that deals with both animals and stereotyping.
Anyway, the story goes that OP’s workplace has two resident cats: Jorts the ginger tabby and Jean the tortoiseshell. Jean’s been around for a while, and is considered the “smart one,” while Jorts… well, he is explained as “a simple guy.”
This person shared a story of how he was accused of "perpetuating ethnic stereotypes" against Jorts the Orange Tabby
You see, he's the kind of cat that often gets himself into predicaments where he requires assistance from a human colleague—locks himself in, gets his head stuck in cups, and the like. Jean has no problems with that.
"Jean was a feral rescue from a rescue agency. Jorts just showed up one day behind the dumpster, Jean would sit and watch him through the window when we offered him food," told OP the history of the office cats. "They got along like they were old friends, as soon as they were carefully introduced after he was cleared by the vet."
So, one particular employee, Pam, decided to take it upon herself to train Jorts. But OP was of a different, more practical opinion, so he, for the door thing, installed door stoppers. Pam took them away as she had an issue with that—it strips Jorts of a chance to learn to open doors, like Jean can.
Now, as much as OP loves to see Pam teach Jorts, he’s of the opinion that the orange tabby is just too much to teach, so he again came up with a cat cutout door solution. And that upset Pam even more. And then OP came up with a light-hearted joke at Jorts’ expense: “you can’t expect Jean’s tortoiseshell smarts from orange cat Jorts.” And oh boy was Pam furious.
She was so furious, in fact, that she left work early and accused OP of perpetuating ethnic stereotypes by claiming that orange cats, like Jorts, are of questionable intellect. AND, demanding racial sensitivity courses for OP. And this whole situation prompted the question on the subreddit.
Off the bat, people online were on the side of practicality, and said that OP is not the bad guy here. Some thought it’s impossible to be racist against cats because they are cats and they don’t really give a gah-giggity about what people think of them.
Following the success of the original post, OP also provided an update post, explaining how HR got involved and other spectacular details
Others agreed that they haven’t ever met an orange cat that wouldn’t be dumb, so you can’t really insult a cat if it’s the way it is, and Pam is just torturing the little guy with her forced training.
Yet others turned this all into a joke and said that yes, they should go with racial sensitivity training, but make it all about cat breeds. All in all, people sided with OP and Pam got booed.
"The AITA replies did help. Never in a million years did I think any random weird post would connect so hard," elaborated OP. "I guess as a society we are all just doing our best right now and a story with no a@#holes is actually just what we need."
But wait, this story ain’t over yet as there’s an update! U/throwawayorangecat gave some more info about the situation as it developed. Long story short, HR was involved, who talked to both Pam and OP. Yes, OP did end up apologizing for all of the comically harmless shaming he did with Jorts and emphasized that bullying a colleague is never cool.
But we also learned that there had to be some line-drawing with Pam. She is not in charge of the cats, never officially was, and OP actually said she shouldn’t be. Mostly because she smothered Jorts in margarine to help him develop a hygiene habit. Yes, you read that correctly. She was allowed to maintain that duty, but not use margarine, but rather actual grooming methods.
Lastly, we asked OP what was Jorts' take on being stereotyped against, and he had this to say: "neither cat will set foot on the new bed. Jorts always forgives instantly. Jorts is truly like a ray of brave sunshine."
So, in conclusion, an absolutely bizarre situation of stereotyping cats leads to some very bizarre anger leading to some very bizarre confessions of buttering up cats, with ridiculously exciting tidbits in between.
You can see the two posts in context here and here. Oh, and if you didn’t get your fill of Jorts and Jean, they have a Twitter right here, so go peep it out!
But before you run off like some cats do hectically at 3 in the morning because cats, let us know your thoughts on this whole situation in the comment section below!