(No, not the easily-trolled fat cats who just can’t stop giving Sen. Warren free campaign ads…)
This found its way onto my Twitter timeline yesterday, and I just had to share it with y’all.
This story is what I wanted Ocean’s 8 to be https://t.co/cB4dMAgeGt
— Iva Dixit (@ivadixit) November 13, 2019
From the NYT…
When airline employees told Mr. Galin that his 22-pound cat, Viktor, was simply too heavy to fly in the passenger cabin on a flight to Vladivostok, in eastern Russia, he devised a plan to ensure his kitty did not wind up in the cargo hold.
…After asking friends for help, he then sourced a 15-pound feline called Fibi, describing her as an “understudy cat.”
When he presented the slimmer pet at check-in, she came under the airline’s limit of eight kilograms, or about 17 pounds… Mr. Galin and Fibi were approved for takeoff.
But unknown to Aeroflot and its staff, Mr. Galin swapped Fibi for his real pet, Viktor, before boarding the plane.
Cute, but there’s an even sillier moment buried in that piece:
The story of the cat swap became so widespread in Russia that it was even mentioned on Wednesday in a daily call between President Vladimir V. Putin and Russian journalists.
Mr. Putin said that the Kremlin did not comment about cats.
Such a terrible policy. One of his many, granted, but…
Open thread!
PaulWartenberg
I got yelled at for fat-shaming regarding that tweet and I SAID I WAS SORRY. /cries
PaulWartenberg
Is this a good time to mention Cinderblock the Fluffiest Kitteh in the World?
Baud
@PaulWartenberg: Do cats feel shame?
Major Major Major Major
@PaulWartenberg: I think it’s dumb to apply the human concept of body positivity to, you know. Non-humans.
Baud
@PaulWartenberg: Do cats accept apologies?
Roger Moore
10kg is in that intermediate range where it might be a fat cat or it might just be an enormous one. The cat in the picture looks like it’s at least a bit of each.
Uncle Cosmo
I await with breathless anticipation the day Cole has to fly with Steve & the check-in person denies him boarding…& Steve rips the checker-in’s lungs out via the left nostril.
MattF
I can sympathize— Aeroflot ‘cargo class’ travel is probably unsafe. In any case, it seems that Mr. Galin didn’t make a huge effort to keep things secret.
ThresherK
Hey, I’ve been away in the real world for a few hours.
Any word on if this latest school shooting has the “pizzazz” which NBC News couldn’t find in the impeachment hearings?
jeffreyw
Cats love fat people because our laps are comfy.
Cheryl Rofer
Aeroflot had no idea how much grief they would take for this.
(Third try on embedding a tweet) ETA: Fourth
twitter.com/SvobodaRadio/status/1194590488235520000
NotMax
So old can remember flying commercially when seats were assigned based on passenger weight.
Amir Khalid
Why does Aeroflot have a weight limit for cat passengers in the first place? Those two or three extra kilos on an overweight kitty shouldn’t make any difference to the plane. Aeroflot accepts humans carrying a lot more extra weight.
waysel
Reply comment testing.
Steve in the ATL
Well dip my balls in sweet cream and set me down in a kitchen full of kittens—M4 has gotten all southern since he moved to New York!
Major Major Major Major
@Steve in the ATL: I’ve been saying “y’all” since high school, because standard English is stupid and doesn’t have a specific word for it.
Kelly
On Sunday we welcomed 8 week old kitten Nora into our home. She was born into the household of a pleasant but disorganized couple. On Monday we realized Nora is a he, provisional new name Martin. He’s cuddly, lively and fast. We can only catch the little guy when he accidentally corners himself. He currently lives in the main bathroom until last year’s kitten, 15 month old Phoebe adjusts to her new friend. Day one there was some yowling and hissing but that has turned into curious chirps and batting at one another paws thru the gaps in the barricade. On Tuesday the vet said he seemed a bit small and we should keep them apart another week or so to avoid inadvertent injuries. My wife found the Facebook post announcing the birth of the kittens and figured out he was really only 7 weeks old when we brought him home. He’s eating heartily and my wife has plenty of experience with babies of several species so he’s gonna be fine
imgur.com/mAqdIFQ
Steve in the ATL
My old Latin teacher used “you” and “y’all” to distinguish singular versus plural. Made sense, at least in Memphis.
Up north they may teach “you” and “youse guys” or “yinz” or whatever passes for language up there.
Carol Van Natta
Martin/Nora is ineffably cute. Here’s hoping s/he will be a delightful companion to all.
Raven Onthill
So. Since our rather pricey exchange plan left our county, I’ve been looking for new health insurance. As I work along through the process, I have realized that: (1) unless you are well-to-do, you get substandard care in my county. All available Exchange plans are carefully designed to keep people away from the excellent doctors the next county over. Maybe even if you are anything less than bloody rich. (2) EPOs and HMOs are used to limit care.
Grumpf.
NotMax
@Steve in the ATL
Affectation more than utility. Just as with “you,” y’all can apply to either singular or plural.
PaulWartenberg
I hope so. My two cats at home seemed to accept my apology for not feeding them tuna last night as they had asked.
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: Steve’s Latin teacher in Memphis was using the word as an affectation, rather than an obvious and straightforward explanation of the inflected second-person plural?
Carol Van Natta
About 8 years ago, I smuggled a kitten onto a flight from Kansas City to Denver because I didn’t want to pay the extra $100 fee. It worked because flight attendants didn’t get notified of who paid vs. who didn’t as far as bringing small pets in carry-on bags. I went through TSA holding the kitten. I then put her in the bag and sailed past the flight check-in desk. During the flight, I checked on her several times, but she slept through the whole thing. I felt very roguish.
FelonyGovt
@Major Major Major Major: It’s “youse”.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Any use of y’all is an affectation. It provides nothing that plain old you does not.
Steve in the ATL
@NotMax: uh dude it distinguishes between singular and plural, which was the specific reason he did it
NotMax
@Steve in the ATL
Also singular. “Y’all gonna just sit there all day or are y’all gonna move one of them chess pieces?”
Major Major Major Major
@NotMax: That’s not going to be a meaning people outside the dialect will know, and for those who speak said dialect, it won’t confuse. At worst, it adds nothing. For most readers/listeners, it adds value.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Gammon and spinach. Used as both a singular and a plural in movies from the 30s and 40s.
Major Major Major Major
I’ve literally never heard that idiom before. I’m going to assume it’s as old as the movies you’re referring to. Most English-speakers are not going to be familiar with things of that vintage. Willing to bet almost everybody in the Anglosphere would recognize “y’all” as “plural you”, though.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
It’s actually British. Used it just for fun (had originally typed “pish and tosh”). You’ve probably heard it but glossed over it in some versions of A Christmas Carol, spoken by Mr. Jorkin.
Amir Khalid
@Major Major Major Major:
I know many Malaysians who use you all as a plural second person pronoun in both English and Malay.
Steve in the ATL
@Amir Khalid: tell them they can save time by saying “y’all”
Major Major Major Major
@Steve in the ATL: Unless NotMax hears them, in which case it’s a net loss.
NotMax
@Major Major Major Major
Sigh. The point is that people can differentiate between its use as a singular or a plural from the context. Defining it as being exclusively plural is simply inaccurate.
H-Bob
I recall an article in the New York Review (I think it was the early 2000s) about Putin disowning his own dog! Someone saw him walking a small dog and later asked him how the dog was doing. Putin responded that it was not his dog, it was his kids’ dog. Then, for several months, he would make public appearances accompanied by a large dog (German Shepards, Doberman, Wolfhounds, etc.), except it would be a different dog every time (obviously, not his dog). Putin’s critics (this was before he become the ‘permanent’ leader) remarked that ‘he disowned his own dog’!
There’s a lesson in that story for Trump!
Kiera
The story of the cat swap became so widespread in Russia. It is amazing information.