Huh?

So ...

I bought this box of cat food for the 4-footed people that live in this house. It came with this special second edition collectable, pink, heart-shaped cat dish at no extra cost to me.

I can't figure out what to do with it. It is "collectible" so I'm supposed to think it is desireable. I certainly don't object to it. I mean, it is pink, and I don't generally do pink, but it looks sturdy, serviceable, if a touch fancy.

But, am I supposed to collect it, or use it as a cat food dish? Am I wrong if I serve my cats mushy food in a dish that is "collectible"? If so, what am I supposed to do with this "collectible" cat food dish? I hope no one honestly thinks I will put it on a display shelf anywhere.

Sadly, though, I am certain that someone is actually out there collecing fancy cat food dishes and putting them on a shelf. This someone, and all his or her collector friends, would probably be mortified if I actually fed my cat out of this silly thing. I have seen some mighty strange collections in the past 10 years, and I'm not even going to count the ones I married into.

About 10 years ago, Darling Husband and I bought a house from a woman who had a collection of Barbie dolls in her living room. Now, I understand a doll collection. I don't have one and never will, but at least they are mainstream. Putting them in your living room ... that is another story. Here is the clincher, though. The carpet in that same livingroom was Barbie pink. I honestly don't know if she decorated the room around the dolls or just picked that carpet and found the dolls match, but oh, Lord was that room a sight. It was hard to see. I swear we got a discount on the house by virtue of that color, which took up most of the top floor. The first thing we did when we moved in was paint the walls white instead of beige so that the carpet was no longer the brightest thing in the room. The second thing we did was buy an area rug until we could afford to replace the pink.

I'll bet that woman who decorated that room would have displayed my pink cat food dish. In fact, I'm certain of it. This dish is slightly rosier and less in-your-face than Barbie, but I have a hunch it would not have mattered to her.

Either way, I still plan to feed my cats from it.