Encounter With the Cat Girl

I had an appointment yesterday with two of my friends to talk about their ministry to millennials.  Wil and Heather live in Austin Ranch, an apartment community north of Dallas that is known as a “millennial enclave.”  I am Starbucks regular but they suggested meeting at a local coffee shop adjacent to the development. To say that the crowd was eclectic might be the ultimate understatement.  I could have predicted that based on my initial encounter.  I got in line to order my coffee and found myself standing behind a young girl wearing cat ears.  Okay, I thought to myself, but then I noticed she had a tail.  Needless to say my curiosity was aroused .  You can add the fact that she was dressed in black with the exception of the white ears that protruded from the top of her head. 

After being served I took a seat at a table.  Soon I found the “Cat Girl” sitting adjacent to me.   I got out my computer to prepare for our meeting when I got a text from my friends saying they were running a little late.  “Opportunity,” I thought.  The girl had ordered food so I knew she was going to be there a while.  I got up to grab a napkin, and my way back I complemented he on her unique outfit.  She smiled and stated that she and a friend liked cats.  The the outfit was pretty much standard for them.  “I work as a waitress, but I don’t wear this when I am working,” she continued.  Assuming her to be in her early twenties, I inquired where she had gone to high school. “I am working to finish my GED,” she responded.  “Eventually I want to go to art school.”  By this time my friends had arrived, so I thank her for the conversation.  “It was nice talking to you,” she replied.

It was brief conversation, and it is doubtful we will ever cross paths again, but I hope I left an impression.  It would have been easy to label her as “weird” and stayed at a distance, but I was genuinely interested in her.  In the process I hope she began to realize that some older adults care about her and want to get to know her. That is the effort it is going to take to change the gap that has occurred between generations.   I would encourage you to do the same. 

It is easy to label someone who has body piercing, or covered with tattoos as being weird.  In God's eyes their is a uniqueness and brokenness in each of us.In this case it meant wearing a tail. How will they know they are loved and accepted without us acknowledging them?  Maybe in the process they will begin to see Jesus through us.