So most of you know that I have this new job working for CUTCO. CUTCO makes high quality cutlery, and as a gal who loves food in all shapes, sizes and forms, this was exciting. I go to people's homes, show them the product, and they give me a check, averaging around $300. Oh, and they don't even know me. Let me share my Hacienda Heights demo adventure. I'm driving an Enterprise rental car because someone rearended me in LA two weeks ago and my Camry is in the shop. This substitute car is a Cavalier without an alarm... and has manual windows and locks. Can I just say how much I don't like manual locks? Holding my large CUTCO sample bag in one arm, my phone and pocket knife in the other's arm, I lock the door. Then I realize, shit... this pocket knife is NOT my key and my key is NOT in my pocket. The key is, quite clearly, left in the locked substitute vehicle. I pull out the Double-D edge knife on my pocket knife to try to unlock the door, but it doesn't work and I don't want my blade stuck in the lock, so I pull it back out. I am a few minutes late for the demo already, and I figure I can come back and deal with this later, so I go ahead to do the demo. I call CUTCO's office and Erick, my assistant manager, finds me the number for Enterprise's roadside assistance. After my demo finishes, I go ahead and give Enterprise a call. While I'm waiting, I notice how incredibly dark this street is. The only lights come from a couple of the houses... no street lamps whatsoever. Finally someone tells me that Chevy will come and unlock the door for me... within the next sixty minutes. SIXTY MINUTES??? I am not going to wait 60 freakin' minutes! But I have no choice. So I stand and wait. And I get bored. I call Grace, to provide some human contact on this dark, dark street. I talk to her... and I hear a cat's meow. Yes, I am a vegetarian. But that, by all means, does not make me an animal lover. I am not too fond of domestic felines... and this one looks like a stray. How else would one describe a cat prowling alone through the dark at 10:30 pm? I freak out. While on the phone. I walk away, and the cat follows. I cross the street, and the cat follows. Here, my head is thinking... and of course I share this with Grace: do cats smell fear? Will it bite? How can I get it to quit following me? I keep walking around the street, but this cat insists on following me. Grace suggests I sit on top of my car. And yes, how shallow of me, but I am wearing my white jeans... I don't want them to get dirty. And yet, I have no choice. So I crawl on top of the silver Cavalier, still on the phone. The cat goes away... or so I thought. It begins playing with my CUTCO sample bag. Lovely. If it gets into the bag and the knives, I am going to have cat blood all over my kit. Just plain lovely. I am never going to use these knives again no matter how often the knives are washed. After sharing this with Grace, I look up and see that... oh my gosh...