At the vet office late last night (Sunny keeps getting respiratory infections) I watched a touching scene through the door window of the vet explaining the status of a pet guinea pig to a girl and her mom. The girl was about 13 (better developed than I am) and quietly crying into a tissue paper.
...
Then a guy in the waiting room asks me what is in the carrying case (a case Sunny has eaten through so I have had to duct tape it and staple it shut in some areas...oh if I could only sew!). I say "A rat. Do you want to pet her? She is very tame."
He sticks his hand in the case and pets Sunny for longer than most people do. "I used to have a rat as a kid," he says after a while. "Is she sick?".
"Yea, she needs antibiotics for her lung infection."
He keeps petting her so I say "Sunny and her sister Lucy are very smart rats."
"Yea I can imagine." Sunny climbs out and into his lap. She is weak and breathing heavily but curious nonetheless. The guy strokes her some more. "It has been a long time...I think I should get a rat now."
"Get two."
"Yea, I think I'll get two."