Because humor is funnier when you know it's true.
Pets and other perils
Occasionally I have had friends ask me to watch their pets while they are out of town, in the hospital or taking clogging lessons in Norway. Often, the conversation goes something like this:
Other person: “Can you watch Mr. Scruffles for a couple days? He’s super easy to handle and is the nicest, sweetest, most George Clooney-like cat/dog/field mouse/chinchilla/lizard bigger than your toddler cousin ever!"
Me: “What does that entail?"
Other person: “Oh, nothing. Just pour his food in his bowl and let him out to pee/clean his and he will be a perfect little angel."
How they describe the favor makes it sound like I will spend happy hours cuddling with a magical creature who has the disposition of Mother Teresa. Of course I agree to watch Mr. Scruffles.
Now, there are some animals I have watched who have been little bundles of fur and joy wrapped up in rainbows. The wide majority of those I have pet-sat, however, appear to have come straight from the bowels of elevator music hell.
The first red flag is when you show up so that the owner can show you what your responsibilities concerning the critter will be, and they begin saying, “Oh! I forgot to mention..."
Sometimes this is something easy and silly like, “I forgot to mention that Mr. Scruffles snores."