On Cats and Food Rations

Meow.  Meow!  MEOW! Gosh, when a cat needs food, they will never stop pestering you.  A few minutes ago, while I was standing in the kitchen waiting for my tea water to boil, Elliot, my cat, comes sprinting in and does just that, pesters me for more food.  Being the lazy person that I am, I didn't bother leaning down to fill up the cat bowl, I just poured the food from about three feet away from the bowl, scattering food everywhere, as well as in the bowl.  But Elliot, instead of eating from the bowl, decides to eat the pieces of food that lay all over the floor.  This made me wonder: is Elliot tidying up her eating area, or is she reserving her resources?

I am reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel.  At the moment, Pi, the main character, is stuck on a lifeboat with a tiger in the middle of the Pacific Ocean after a shipwreck (as he has been for a long while).  Pi, being more or less alone on the boat meant for 32 people for 3 days, appears to have a bonanza of supplies and food, but i have a feeling that this is not so.  If Pi's calculations are correct, the food and water would only last him for about 100 days.  By looking at the Wikipedia article, I saw that (SPOILER ALERT) he was on the boat for well over 100 days, in fact, more then twice as long.  He appears to be consuming more then the recommended rations per day.  He has no idea how long he will be on this boat.

Maybe Elliot was being smart by only eating food off of the floor.  Perhaps she was being cautious. What if suddenly me and my family went away on a random vacation without feeding her? Had she eaten the food in the bowl, she would have no food for later (seeing as I probably would have swept the floor before leaving), but by eating the stuff on the floor, she saved food for later.  What I am trying to say is less that you are being frugal, but that you should be ready for everything.  Last year, I remember having a math test that I didn't know about.  I was saved by the myriad of notes in my math notebook (I cannot say that I have the same for this year – gulp!) which I used for last minute studying saved me. 

To sum this all up, be ready for anything.  Don't waste, like I feel that Pi is doing, but save.  You probably have what you need, so don't waste it before that's the thing that will save your life.  like the Boyscout motto (I am not a boyscout, but I just know this): Be Prepared.  What seems useless now may one day save your life!


Just telling you, this does not mean that you should hoard all of your used candy wrappers and broken shoelaces &c.  Also, I do not think that my cat was really (consciously) being frugal, seeing as a cats brain is about 5cm large.