Sunday, 09 June 2002 | Hunt

Two girls accosted me, offering me $10 cash for my black ink on their 6-page form. Always too sympathetic. For the next fifteen minutes I sat on a bench and honestly (politely, incredulously) responded to each ridiculous question that had been formulated to predict marketing trends. "What will be the next big thing?" "What's your favorite brand of clothing?" "Rank the following (1 to 5) in terms of coolness." "What's your favorite commercial?" "Are these stars 'getting hotter' or 'cooling down'?" "Which [of these identical stores] do you prefer: The Gap or Old Navy? Abercrombie & Fitch or American Eagle?"

More than half of the questions I had no answer for at all, but I responded anyway, since that was the requirement for the reward. I felt uneasy about giving out my personal information; I'm not sure why I chose not to lie about that. Always too forthcoming. It made me think of this guy I dated in college who was so paranoid about people knowing his name that he would make up names to give hostesses at restaurants, often forgetting who he was when "his" name was called.

When I handed in my survey, they even took a Polaroid picture, which really creeped me out. As soon as I walked away, I regretted agreeing to participate, and I felt kind of dirty, like I'd somehow sold out. Those two fives stayed in my bag all of one hour before disappearing into my gas tank.

***

Two minutes after cursing the predatory nature of cats, I was praising my own cat for being a predator. I'd walked down to rabbit field to distribute an old potato when I spotted an unknown fluffy white cat weaving through the tires of a nearby car. I squatted and held out my hand and made some silly noises that are supposed to attract cats, and it approached until it was just out of my reach, turned suddenly, and took off after a rabbit.

Moments later, standing in the door of my room, I watched my cat Leeches fly off the bed and tackle one of those huge outdoor-bred roaches. She saw the shoe come down but must have not made the connection, because she's still sitting beside my desk, striking out at nothing, in hopes that the interesting creature will again come out and play.