Oh the humanity...

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(12:27:12 AM) friend: The cat just jumped on my lap and demands to be petted.
(12:27:36 AM) me: I see
(12:27:48 AM) me: I wonder if having a pet would make me feel more useful
(12:27:54 AM) me: although I might accidentally kill it
(12:28:02 AM) me: due to neglect
(12:28:31 AM) friend: I had a student with this dilemma
(12:29:00 AM) me: existing track record?
(12:29:01 AM) me: :P
(12:29:12 AM) friend: Her friends started her off with a cactus plant.
(12:29:16 AM) me: it died.
(12:29:22 AM) friend: Alas she killed it.
(12:29:37 AM) me: I had a pot of African violet
(12:29:49 AM) me: the flowers died after 1 week
(12:29:58 AM) me: and then it never flowered again
(12:30:05 AM) me: and it died after a few months
(12:30:24 AM) friend: Don't take it too personally
(12:30:28 AM) me: haha
(12:30:50 AM) friend: It happens to other people too like cactus girl.
(12:32:19 AM) me: cactus is pretty hard to kill.
(12:33:02 AM) friend: Yes that's why cactus girl was distraught
(12:33:09 AM) me: oh no
(12:33:18 AM) me: what is she like?
(12:33:32 AM) friend: Very attractive, I dunno.
(12:33:36 AM) me: :P
(12:33:39 AM) friend: Talkative.
(12:33:40 AM) me: temperament
(12:33:41 AM) me: really
(12:33:44 AM) me: curious
(12:33:58 AM) me: so one possibility is that she completely forgot about it
(12:34:36 AM) friend: She thought it didn't get enough light, and wanted me to design a giant parabolic mirror for her to concentrate light.
(12:35:05 AM) friend: I said that was stupid, but not quite so bluntly.
(12:35:25 AM) me: well, it would set the cactus on fire
(12:35:48 AM) friend: Yeah, well english majors don't know that.
(12:36:03 AM) me: oh man, I was laughing too hard at that one