Hasty Life & Shopping Lessons

I (and this blog) am quite familiar with the occassional impulsive shopping splurge, but the story that follows goes beyond even that - I would call this a moment of shopping insanity. 

The seeds of this little tale were sown about two months ago, when a co-worker asked if I'd be interested in adopting a baby rat.  I told her no at the time, but having had pet rats in the past I started to think that perhaps the idea of expanding my animal family (I already own a cat) might be a desirable idea.  However, I was smart enough to keep myself away from pet stores until I was firmly set on bringing in another living being into my home.

 Smart enough, that is, until I decided to go rat browsing with my sister.  Browsing being the key word here, as I made it quite clear that I did not intend to buy.  Once that cute little fuzzy creature was placed in my hands, however, and the store clerk advised me that I'd be saving it from a "short life as imminent snake food" I went into an insane frenzy of pet supply shopping.  I spent $99 on two rats, one aquarium & topper, and various rat food & toys.  What can I say?  I was emotionally blackmailed into the purchase.

Obviously I was not in my right mind, because the minute I walked into my house with this gigantic rat terrarium I realized that I had made a horrible and expensive mistake.  I had no place to put these rats without seriously rearranging my furniture, and more importantly I wasn't in an emotional state to deal with familiarizing myself with two new family members.  I had a serious case of buyers remorse that I have never experienced before - most likely because these were living creatures I had involved in my mess.  A half hour later I went back to the pet store, tail between my legs, and handed the rats back without so much as asking for a refund (the rats themselves were only $3 a piece, anyways).

I plan on taking back all of the supplies and toys in a few days when the shame of my irresponsibility dies down, but as for the aquarium (the most expensive purchase at $39.99) there is a no-refund policy and I simply have to suck up that expense as a pricey life lesson.  It's easy to get sucked into hasty decisions when something small and adorable is squirming in your hands, but take it from me: don't do it!  Think on it and make sure you're ready, because unlike a piece of furniture a pet deserves an owner who can devote their time to welcoming them into a home.

I feel bad for my wallet, but worse for my rat friends.