I confess that P.T. Barnum was talking about me when he said his infamous line: “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Actually, there is some debate as to whether he really said that, but nonetheless, that line still describes me. Last night the doorbell rang at 8:55 p.m. while I was having dinner on the couch with my cats by my side, begging me to let them lick the plate. I wondered who in the world was ringing my doorbell at that hour. It was a high school student selling newspaper subscriptions to help fund her college education.

I do not need another newspaper. I get several delivered to my door every day that end up going straight into the recycle bin. As this young person talked about herself, I looked around to see where my cats were, so that they wouldn’t run out the front door. That child was perceptive. She noticed I was distracted and asked me if I had cats at home. Of course, I said yes. Then she graciously offered to help me watch the door so that they wouldn’t escape. She told me she has eight cats, and then she said the magic words: “I foster kittens.”

Spreading the word about fostering cats and kittens is a passion of mine, because I think that is one of the ways we can reduce the number of cats that are euthanized each year. Click here to learn more about fostering cats.

I was ready to help fund this girl’s education, even though I didn’t need another newspaper. I felt she deserved it. She showed me pictures of her cats on her cell phone. By this time, Chamois was close to the front door watching her. (She’s a great watch cat.) Bashful Chloe stayed on the couch. I told this girl what I did for a living and, naturally, she reads CAT FANCY and visits CatChannel.

When I finally closed the door, I remembered the phrase attributed to P.T. Barnum and thought: “Yes, that’s me.”