The Pet that Will Not Die

For the past year and a half or so, a hamster that goes by the name of Harriet Tubman -- aptly named for her burrowing skills and unrelenting pursuit to escape her cage -- has enjoyed the luxury of living in BOX as our house pet. I first received this pet in March of 2008, as a gift from Al and my girlfriend at the time - who hoped that giving me a pet would "teach me responsibility". While I cannot really say the whole responsibility thing ever worked out, the fact that Harriet is still alive proved many nay-sayers wrong. Many outsiders take one look at our house and say that it is unfit for an animal to live in, let alone a human being. They said our house could never keep a pet alive. They said it couldn't be done.

Harriet's endurance has proved that BOX can indeed keep a pet alive. Though she has been drunk at numerous parties (I've woken up many times to find Harriet's water bowl filled with beer or Old Crow), has been high from puffs of hippy-lettuce blown into her cage, has survived numerous throws across the room in her ball, and has been forced to live in one of our bathtubs for weeks after I accidentally broke her cage, she somehow has managed to survive in BOX. Most recently, Saturday morning to be exact, I woke up from a strong night of drinking to find that the BOX house pet was missing from her cage. I wasn't positive if either a.) someone came into the home and stole her or b.) she simply climbed out of her cage somehow. But I was almost positive that she was gone once and for all, considering that our door had been opened pretty much all night. Just as I was ready to write off Harriet's existence in the world for good, a maintenance man claimed to have seen a creature resembling Harriet running around in the depths of the basement today - nearly a full week after the day she went missing. Somehow this persevering rodent survived a week in the cellar without food or water. While some of the roommates were joyous in anticipation that Harriet was dead (some wanted a cremation jar of her), they will have to wait a little longer for that day. I think it is remarkable that BOX has been able to keep a pet alive this long.

So, as our reputation of filth, irresponsibility, and general unhealthiness has certainly been growing as of late (the city of Ann Arbor offered us cleaning tips such as 'how to use a vacuum the other day'; and a girl familar to the house refuses to let her brother live here even though we are desperate for another roommate this year) the tale of Harriet Tubman proves that a pet can indeed live in BOX. We can't be that bad if this rodent has survived so long, can we?