GranolaBox

Luddites were workers who, threatended with the loss, or at least degradation of their jobs at the hands of the new machinery of the industrial revolution, tried to smash the machines and anything having to do with them to preserve the dignity of their labor. Obviously their efforts weren’t successful, but their spirit lives on in our cats.

It’s not that the cats are against technology in theory. They just don’t like technology sharing our attention. When I’m working at the computer, Dolly, our female calico has a not-so-subtle way of letting me know there are other things I should be doing, like paying attention to her.

Her brother Chaplin doesn’t exactly rage against machines, but prefers to sleep on, or in front of them instead. When we first got our robotic vacuum cleaner, we thought the cats would attack with full fury. They are however, quite annoyed by it. Characteristically, Chaplin chooses to thwart the Roomba the best way he knows how: by sleeping on it. He also takes the same approach as Dolly to the computer, but with his characteristically less agressive tactic.

There is one piece of technology both cats are more than happy to allow to operate- the can opener at feeding time.

Filed under: General Observations on March 29th, 2007