My Second Career And Our Mascot

Animals, our pet friends, are just as entertaining sometimes as your favorite comedian or that classic sitcom you just can't seem to stop watching. They make you laugh, they give you comfort, they offer companionship, and sometimes they provide the very thing you need, help to destress. They're a great source of comfort as you pet them, rubbing their fur, taking your mind off of the day behind you. They are emotional support animals, assistant animals, comfort animals, and then there are the ones that have been rescued and are the office mascots. In the era of work-from-home opportunities, and as many work from home due to Covid-19, this is an everyday thing for many.

Hawkeye was just a tiny six-month-old stray when I first met him and brought him home to help fill the void. Of course, he doesn't see it that way. From the first moment when we met, as he pawed my shin, he was just looking for attention as most cats do. Little did he know, he'd found a sucker in me. From that first "meow," as he unknowingly put his claws into my leg to the way he purred when I picked him up, I knew that I couldn't leave him in that shelter.

I already had one work from the home person at home and was getting used to working and being based out of home instead of an office. So, when I brought him home it was an interesting experience. He fit right into our home office area even though it wasn't planned that way.

As part of my regular 9-5, or not so much 9-5 anymore, I had to have computer equipment and a desk to work at. Done. It beats going to a job I'd grown to hate and it's only part-time at home and the rest of the time I'm on the road. Days like today, especially with the weather change, Hawkeye (or Hawk) as I have started to call him, isn't ready for the day any more than I was and probably would have enjoyed some caffeine as I sat checking emails, and sipping coffee.

"Well buddy, thank god it's Friday."

I checked my emails and went to where I store some parts. Packing up 20 of each part and getting my gear ready to head off to prison, to work not stay, I came back to kill a few minutes and try to wake the rest of the way up. If you've ever seen a cat type, I'm sure that it's interesting to them but I can't interpret the language at all. It's amazing how often he will do this and I swear, he knows I'm filming.

Hawkeye, besides being an entertaining fellow at the beginning of the day, and at the end, is also constantly there and usually under my feet. He has a way about him that reminds me of a small child that constantly needs attention until you have time to give it to them without being distracted and then wants nothing to do with you. I guess I should have shared? Maybe some catnip tea in the mornings will get him going and off my laptop.

By the time I got home, somebody was a little more alert. It never fails, as soon as I get home and start to do paperwork, he makes sure to come and say, "Hi," or in his case, "Meow." Ten minutes of this and he's ready to let me get some work done. Usually, if I just rub his ears, he's off and running. There are those occasions that he's going to entertain no matter what, especially if he senses I've had a stressful week. At least, it seems to time out that way.

Somedays, like I said, Hawkeye reminds me of a kid. Just has to have the attention. I came home one afternoon, sat down to do some work at the computer, and he just got right in front of me. On this occasion, he's wearing his take me outside face. He is such a quick cat that I don't always see him coming. I've been mid-sentence and had him land on the keyboard, trying to retype my work...or he thinks. Cats love the click of a keyboard. At least, on this particular day, I didn’t have that much left to do. Boy, he sure did seem to want me to finish.

On a warm day, Hawkeye is an adventurer. With the door open close to my desk, he's been known to jump from my desk towards the door and run up the top half. With the squirrels on the roof, I know what he's looking for, but it's always hysterical. Having to watch him during a web meeting, afraid he might fall, I quickly learned how to turn my camera off for a minute or use an avatar. Unfortunately, he is intrigued by people’s voices over the computer. He’s gone so far as to take a spot on my lap like Blofeld from the classic Bond movies.

Animals in the workplace might be fun, they certainly are in the work from home environment. We've grown into the role together since bringing him home and he's the office comedian, the office cut up, and the office entertainer all in one. Somehow, as both I and my brother would wind up in a position working more from home than not, he's become the office morale officer at the Morton building, also called home.