Let me tell you about Jasper.A longhaired Burmese kitten, he came from an animal shelter in Melbourne, in Australia, where I was living.
Jasper was duly vaccinated and in time neutered.
He grew to be as elegant and refined as his name. (Even his vet remarked on Jasper’s qualities.)
Unusually, Jasper would sometimes walk with me to the tram stop when I went to work. My neighbors knew him from those walks and from his strolls alone. Jasper was one of a kind — people volunteered to look after him when I traveled.
The fateful day arrived when I was due to move from temperate Melbourne to a tropical climate. Jasper’s vet said the climate would be difficult for a longhaired Burmese, and he would be better as an indoor cat if he came with me.
I asked for a second opinion from another vet. The conclusion was the same.
I felt Jasper would not appreciate being an indoor cat, rather than being out and about among his neighborhood and his fans, so he went to live with a friend. Of course, she appreciated him as much as I did.
When I returned to visit her, Jasper remembered me. I like to think it was my caring nature, but it might have been the bacon fat snippets I always fed him from my plate at weekend brunch.
I think of Jasper when I see the strays in our village.
I was surprised and pleased not only to hear of Andersen Air Force’s partnership with the Guam Department of Agriculture on strays, but to hear that the base has a policy on animals and how military pet lovers should treat them when they leave. There are lessons there for any community and any pet owner. You can read more at www.mbjguam.com.
Talking of military, if you are an MBJ subscriber or reader you’ll know that we regularly report on military construction contract awards.
I have noticed that when certain clothing contracts are awarded, the U.S. Department of Defense uses the British word “trousers” rather than the American term “pants.”
American English originated in the U.S. colonies and evolved. The British Council — which promotes language and culture — has guides to the differences and trust me, “pants” is a completely different item of clothing in the U.K.
I like to think that language is something that unites us rather than divides us and apparently somebody at DoD thinks the same. Or else that somebody is a British transplant who just can’t bring themselves to type “pants” instead of “trousers.”
Meanwhile DoD continues to make those awards, and other more relevant ones in our region.
In the upcoming May-June issue of Guam Business Magazine you can read more about military construction in our economic analysis as well as a discussion on tourism and hospitality.
We all hope the visitor industry will see more dollars and cents come its way as it revives and moves forward. mbj
— Maureen N. Maratita is the publisher at Glimpses Media. Glimpses Media includes the Marianas Business Journal, Guam Business Magazine, The Guam Guide, Wave 105.1 FM, Power98 and Route99.