Oh the places you go...

I'd like to share a story with you. It's no secret I'm not a big fan of pets. Just ask my husband.
There are many stories I could tell about ill-fated animals that crossed my path, but I was reminded of a particular one this week.

So anyway, I was working at an apartment compound's office this week, and on the desk where I sat there was a beta fish.

This beta fish was so unhappy.

It didn't swim much or eat much. It's scales were droopy and changing colors.
It looked close to meeting the Great Porcelain Gate to the Watery Beyond.
(or something poetic like that...)

Luckily, it didn't die while I was there. But it did remind me of the escapade that occurred several years ago involving myself, my then-roommate Erin B, and two fish named Zolton and Komini.

Erin and I had moved out of Leslie hall and into an apartment several minutes from campus in Bolivar. We were really excited about having our own place. Sarah lived with us for some months in our new abode, and moved out in January. Our place seemed a little lonely after she left, so we decided there was room for a pet in our lives.

So to Wal-Mart we went! Fish, we decided, was a safe pet for us. We bought a bowl and rocks and a plant-thing and food and a net and these flower pods that grow in the water. Once we'd picked out all the accessories, we looked at the fish.

We decided we wanted to go a step above goldfish. So we purchased these fancy fish. One was gold and one was silver. We named them Zolton and Komini (cause we love Gilmore Girls). So we took them home and set them up and waited for them to be exciting.

(*Spoiler alert: FISH ARE NOT EXCITING)

Well, they didn't seem to like their new home. Within 24 hours, Zolton died. Then about 8 hours later Komini bit the dust too. (I even wrote a little poem about our dead fishes)

BUT: did you know that Wal-Mart will refund your dead fish within like 60 days??
So we took our dead fish back and got new ones.

We decided to go with the goldfish this time, cause they are a hardier fish and they are cheaper.

These little guys were named Copper and Boom (again a GG reference).

And they did pretty well. We kept their bowl clean and fed them.

Pretty soon, though, Erin and I became bored.

Cleaning a fish bowl is gross and tedious. And, again I'll say, fish are boring.

So we decided to liberate them into the pond at the Bolivar park...

We put them into cups and drove out to the park. We said our good-byes and released them one at a time.

Of course, something big and murky probably nabbed them as soon as they hit the water, but we prefer to believe they are still alive and well in the pond. Maybe they are even giant goldfish now!

This is just one of my many attempts at being a good pet owner. They have all failed.

I'm not a pet person.

But at least I didn't try to liberate a puppy into the pond at the park...