Machine Fear and the "Cult of the Hood Thumpers"

[Bill Marsh]

Munk's post about Machines reminded me of a friend's wife who started her car and was greeted by suddenly silenced screams of pain from beneath the hood. When she opened the hood, she found the remains of a cat that had gotten caught in the fan or fan belt.

Fearing the possibility of another cat's demise, she began a ritual of banging on the car hood with her hands, beforer attempting to start her car, to frighten away any other cat that might otherwise meet a similar demise.

The kids in the neighborhood noticed her peculair behavior and asked her why? Not wanting to tell them about the cat's grisly death, she told them that she was "waking up the engine" and that this was the proper thing to do before starting a car.

The word spread and she noticed all over her neighborhood that kids were "waking up the egines" before their parents started the cars.

Is this how rituals start?

 

[jurassicnarc44]

My current psycho-kitty ( you all know about Tortoise shell kittys being mentally ill, don't you?) was chopped, abraded, and burned on top of a van engine, trying to find a place to stay warm her first winter. I asked the neighbor who had the incident to give me the kitten instead of having her put down as she intended. This kitten rode everywhere inside my flannel shirt for the next several months (except while actually serving search warrants or court). For fourteen years now she has curled up between my wife and I to sleep each night...

 

[Nasty]

One of mine is a *muted* calico...soft shades of grey and honey instead of the harder black and orange. She is also a bit psycho...and a usual bed companion.

.

 

[Green Ice]

I remember my Tiger cat doing that one winter. Yowls and fur flying everywhere when I started the engine. He disappeared for a couple of weeks but finally returned a much wiser cat.

Ice