The Blue Door Bookshop Cat

The used bookshop on my street has a resident cat named Professor, a huge gray Maine Coon who sleeps in the poetry section and judges every customer.

If he approves of you, he'll walk over and sit on whatever book you're holding. If he doesn't, he simply turns his back. The owner says Professor has never been wrong about a person.

The first three times I visited, he ignored me completely. The fourth time, I was browsing a battered copy of Mary Oliver, and he climbed onto my lap, sat directly on the book and started purring.

The owner gasped and said, "Well. You're in." She gave me a ten percent discount, which she says is the official Professor rate.

I go every Saturday now. Professor and I have an understanding. I read. He sits on what I'm reading. It's the best relationship in my life.