Dear Tabby is written by Tabs the cat, widely considered “the world’s first plus-size kitty supermodel.” founded in mid 2012, it has quickly become the most popular cat advice column on earth — known for its fresh, feline perspective on lifestyle, fashion and style issues affecting cats and humans.
Shelter cat fears showing favoritism at the office
DEAR TABBY: I can’t believe I’m actually writing THE Tabs the cat! — or rather, Tabby. You’re a big celebrity where I work. When I told my cat coworkers that I was writing you, they said I was crazy. They all said that you would never respond, but I’m keeping my paws crossed.
Tabby, my name is Sasha, and I’m the director of cat career placement at a local cat charm school and management training facility here in Gainesville (officially, the organization is called the Gainesville ASPCA). It’s my job to help our graduates, who range in age from three-month-old kittens to 18-year-old senior cats looking for a career change, find rewarding careers, and to place them with talented pet assistants in the area.
ANNONSE
I love my job, but I see a lot of feline faces come and go, and sometimes that gets me a little sad… I know I’m performing a valuable service in the community, but sometimes I do wish I had an easier job.
Oops! — got a little sidetracked there for a moment.
I wanted to ask you about working with professional pet assistants. I work with about a dozen of them here. We maintain a very large staff, but I’ve grown particularly attached to one of them. Her name is Kelly, and I think she’s just fantastic. She understands my quirks and how I like to take my breakfast at a certain time, keeps the office tidy, and even massages my shoulders when I’m tense.
ANNONSE
Katter og sminke Sweatshirt ??
$ 42.
Handle nå
But as I’ve said, she’s not my only employee. She’s just my favorite.
I would really like to do something special for her — just something small to recognize her exemplary job performance — but I don’t know what’s appropriate. I don’t want to be seen as showing favoritism at the office.
Vennlig hilsen,
Sasha
Always recognize exceptional performance
DEAR SASHA: What a wonderful job you do! I greatly admire career counselors and teachers like you because you’re shaping the future of the entire cat community. hvem vet? one of your graduates could go on to become the next Morris, so bravo to you.
Now, about your question… first of all, I actually think it’s perfectly acceptable to show favoritism at the office. In fact, I do it all the time. I employ two full-time executive assistants and an army of part-time personal chefs, nutritionists and massage therapists — not to mention a driver — and I favor whichever one is doing the best job at any given time.
I do this because 1) we’re cats, and we’re allowed to be fickle, and 2) I feel that favoritism of this sort creates a competitive work environment, and competition breeds excellence. I think you’ll find that by rewarding one of your assistants, many of the others will try harder.
Prøv det. as for appropriate forms of recognition, kitty hugs are nice.
Good gift for a mommy cat
DEAR TABBY: I think mine is kind of an interesting situation… See, I work literally next door to my mommy cat.
Yeah! It’s kind of weird. I’m the concierge at an apartment building, and my mommy cat works in the building next door to me as a kitty model. long story short, I was raised there and home-schooled, and then after graduating, I took a job here because it was right next door. Basically, I was looking for my first job and bumped into the head assistant on the sidewalk one day. We had lunch — he prepared tuna — and then he offered me the job.
So now I see my mommy cat every once in a while. We’re both very busy with our careers, though, so it’s not an everyday thing, but we keep in touch.
I had to work today on Mother’s Day, so we couldn’t get together, but we made a date for next week.
I’d like to get her a little something when I see her. Tabby, what’s a good gift for a kitty model?
Med vennlig hilsen,
Brady
Fish oil is the secret to the silkiest fur
DEAR BRADY: Hmm… Well, what kind of modeling does she do? If it’s mainly print, I suggest canned tuna. The fish oil is great for your fur. but if she does runway or TV, then some catnip, or perhaps a crinkly ball, would be nice.
Also, you can never go wrong with a mouse.
Assistant wonders how far is too far to push her luck at work
DEAR TABBY: I should probably just keep my mouth shut and be thankful for what I have, but sometimes I feel like I’m taking advantage of my employer. Mr. FancyPants is the best boss I’ve ever had. He lets me come and go as I please, he gives me positive reinforcement, he never lashes out. I get free purrs, kitty hugs and forehead taps all the time. Oh, and biscuits! more biscuits than anyone could ever want.Jeg er også en aspirerende stil blogger, og han modeller for meg. Gratis! Han lar meg stille ham med rekvisitter for bilder og aldri klager. Noen ganger føler jeg at jeg er den som skal betale ham!
Jeg skriver deg i dag fordi jeg har tenkt på å ta på seg en annen kitty arbeidsgiver – en annen kitty modell for å hjelpe meg å vokse bloggen min – men jeg vil egentlig ikke fornærme Mr. Fancypants. Han har vært så bra for meg.
Er jeg egoistisk her? Hva burde jeg gjøre?
Beste,
Eva.
Du teller bedre dine velsignelser
Kjære EVA: Guurl, du forteller at katten hvor mye han mener for deg, og ikke går du å ansette noen andre uten å sjekke med ham først. Mr. FancyPanner høres ut som en Mr. Wonderful for Me.
Vet du om han fungerer bra med andre katter? Jeg ville prøve å finne det ut først. Hvis det er noen andre kattunne bedrifter i nabolaget, kan du se om å planlegge et møte mellom Mr. Fancypants og deres administrerende direktører (Cat Executive offiserer) for å måle muligheten for eventuelle fremtidige fusjoner.
Det er hva en topp-tier kjæledyr assistent ville gjøre.
En litterær elsker ser etter RECs
Kjære Tabby: Jeg har kommet inn i lydbøker i det siste. Jeg liker å lytte til dem i katten min med min iPad. Har du noen RECs? Jeg har nettopp ferdig med det siste spillet av troner.
Vennlig hilsen,
Artemis
Jeg anbefaler en hørbar medlemsplan
ANNONSE
Kjære Artemis: Ooh! Hvis du liker fantasi, vil du elske Warded Man av Peter V. Brett. Jeg likte også datteren av røyk og bein av Laini Taylor.
Er ikke lydbøker den største? Jeg skulle ønske det var flere av dem skrevet av katter.
Kitty klemmer og whisker kyss,
Tabs.