Mabel, the retail cat, speaks out....

Dear George,
I am a cat with several homes – all of them in the shopping areas of a Cotswold town. I sleep at Thomas Cook’s, the travel agents, which has a low level letter plate which I can easily open. During the day I favour the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society, then Milletts, then Five Valleys Leisure, then Clarks, then Blue Cross charity shop or one of a dozen other shops. These are all really good places to eat and rest during tiring shopping hours.
For lunch on Fridays I visit the market where Ken the cheese man gives me a ham dinner. (He has very good ham). Most of my stops have some cat food ready for me. They make me very welcome.
Officially I adopted two humans , Jen and Ron. No, I don’t live with them. They are nice people but I prefer a more exotic lifestyle. They come and feed me and give me a cuddle in dark evenings when the weather is bad. I like to feel they are checking out my accommodation.
It has taken a certain firm mindedness on my part. At first people would ring Ron or Jennifer and ask them to come and fetch me. When they did so I took no notice of their attempts to make me into a stay-at-home. I just persisted in my chosen lifestyle.
Yours
Mabel.


Dear Mabel,
What an inspiration. Yours is a story which proves the strong mindedness and persistence of the feline personality. Not for you the quiet fireside and the stable domestic life. Instead, you have chosen a life on the road.
I also admire your humans who have sensibly decided to go with your decision. One of their relatives told me that Ron goes out every evening to feed you and make sure you are OK. This pair of humans is very special. Wish they were all like that.
I should also celebrate your interest in retailing... Some people, pointing at Ginger the Cat who kept a shop with Pickles the dog (in the Beatrice Potter tales), have claimed that cats make lousy shopkeepers. They forget that Mrs Tabitha Twitchit, who refused to give credit, had an astute grasp of economics. Moreover I bet the shops get more people in when they see you sleeping in the window. What an advertisement.
From looking at your photo I can see that you do not run short of food. You have purrsuaded half the human shopkeepers in the town to feed you, not forgetting Ken and his ham. We black cats are the tops!
Wooooooo….. well done Mabel.
George
PS. The morning I posted this answer, there was a queue of four at Clark's shoe shop waiting for the shop to open. There were three human ladies and, in front of them, Mabel queuing for her breakfast.