A Furry Love Story - The Burning Spotlight
#3 of Scraps
My political liabilities were immediately disrupted when the Three Gorges Dam broke in the Republic of China. The energy that could have spent passing bills to reduce my civil liberties on a federal scale were spent aiding the Chinese.
Fortunately, the Progressive Coalition retained a much more narrow majority in Minnesota. In the lame duck session, they passed a law that granted full citizenship to "all beings that are capable of passing a citizenship test," which I aced. After becoming a citizen, I applied to Menard's, and was hired the next day.
I was hired to answer people's questions. I studied on hardware and tried to help other people. However, when I did try to offer my help, they turned the other way. I asked if I could help other workers stock the shelves, and I was surprised when the manager said no. He was a control freak who wanted to keep people "in their place." In my free time, people didn't really talk to me. In fact, I think they avoided me. They were afraid of me. They didn't want to talk to me because they didn't know how. They didn't know what to say or what to ask, since I was a completely new race.
One time I remember going into the First Avenue night club, and everything stopped, even the music. I've never felt so dehumanized in my entire life. I was angry, upset, and sad. After ranting over the the affair on the Internet, I started to gain popularity.
After a few weeks, an elderly woman was looking for shower heads. She couldn't see very well, and she probably thought I was a human. She complained to me that her hot water was not working. After much persuasion, I convinced her to get a solar water heater. They were becoming very popular. She complimented my friendliness, something no one had ever done before. She bought both the heater and the shower head and was quite satisfied. That woman will be in my mind forever. I've always wished there were more people like her.
It wasn't so rosy after that. I soon became known as "that guy at Menard's." Sometimes people came to me to ask about about hardware, but most of them also asked me about things that had nothing to do with it. When they did asked me about hardware, they thought I was some all-knowing guru. Many of them asked me what it was like being me, something I could never answer. As far as I knew I was just doing my job.
As the months passed, the controversy started growing again. People from both sides of the spectrum kept questioning my humanness, and they all had a very wide range of opinions. All I've ever wanted was to be human. However, the sad truth is that I am not. I am an alien in this world. I will never be like them.
Some eateries refused to let me in and were afraid that my fur would touch other people's food. I thought the problem was bad in Minnesota, but it was much worse anywhere else I've ever been (especially Wisconsin).
So I did what most other people did: I took my angst to the Internet. At first no one listened or looked at it. I was hoping it would stay that way. Unfortunately, conservatively-biased media outlets are always looking for their next piece of red meat. My journal became their new focus. I suggested such "radical" ideas such as proportional representation and equality. Race also was part of the blog, and offered observations of race relations and insults to whites. Nothing was sugar-coated. It annoyed the Progressives, but enraged the Nationals. It became their next tool of fear to push their corporatist agenda.
However, out of chaos came opportunity. I got an offer from many trusted, reliable news sources. I quit the job and Menard's and got paid for my opinion. First I was hired by the Star-Tribune, then I was hired by CNN. I was frequently interviewed on life, the universe and everything, and began writing a book on the subject.
Somehow, though, I felt something was missing. Despite my popularity, I couldn't help but feel lonely. I wished that I wasn't the only one. I wish that I was treated like a person and not like somebody special. I wanted to settle down, but I was stuck in overdrive. While being interviewed on TV, attending political conferences, and speaking for others, I had almost no time consider my wants and my needs. I had no sense of self. I couldn't figure out who I was, at least not until I met her.