Primarily Cats

WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL WOULD YOU WANT TO BE IF YOU HAD TO BE ONE?

RITA BUTLER: Ha! I’d love to tell ya!
DBG: Tell me.
RITA: I wouldn’t want to be any animal. I have a hard enough time bein’ what I am without bein’ an animal.
MARION KINNIN: You must be feelin’ better today.
RITA: Oh, I am. I’ve got two more pills to take.
DBG: But say you had to be an animal – what kind would you want to be?
RITA: A cat I guess. My daughter-in-law’s cats seem to have a pretty good life.
DBG: Marion, how about you?
MARION: (shrugs) Maybe a little sheep.
RITA: A little lamb?
MARION: Yeah.

JIM PERRY: Jesus, I don’t know. . . Well, let me see. . . Elephant! By geez, they live a long time!

ROSE DWYER: A horse.
DBG: You said that unhesitatingly.
ROSE: I love horses.
RITA: I was gonna tell him what kind of animal I would be, but I didn’t think he should write it down!
MARION: You rascal! Tsk-tsk!
ROSE: A jackass probably! (laughs)
RITA: *(chuckles)* That
CELIA FLATLEY: A horse.
DBG: Rose is already going to be a horse. We can only have one of each animal.
RITA: Who says?
DBG: It’s a rule I just made up.
CELIA: A dog.
ROSE: That would be my next choice!
RITA: You’re not supposed to be makin’ up rules.
MARION: You tell him!

MARIE FOSTER: Good Lord! (thinks) A cat – they’re petted and loved.

CAROLYN HARTWELL: Do I have to tell you why?
DBG: Only if you want to.
CAROLYN: Well, I guess a cheetah because they’re really slick and fast.

FLORENCE PERRY: I guess a cat, because I can make some good catty remarks sometimes! *(laughs)*
MARIE: They’re petted and loved.
FLORENCE: I can purr gently and I can be catty.
MARIE: That too.

HELEN PETTEYS: A cow with wings.
FLORENCE: Jump over the moon! *(laughs)*
HELEN: Do a lot of high flyin’.
CAROLYN: I thought sure you’d say a squirrel.
FLORENCE: No, she shoots them.

HELEN SHERIDAN: I’d like to be a rabbit – you can be either tame or wild.
CAROLYN: And you want to be wild!
HELEN S.: That’s right.
HELEN PETTEYS: A male or female rabbit?
HELEN S.: If I had my choice I’d like to be a male.
HELEN P.: More fun that way.
RITA: I think the party’s getting dirty.
CAROLYN: It all depends on where your mind is.
RITA: Mine’s right out front.

LEONA BELL: I think I’d like to be a deer, so I can roam the woods.

DOROTHY WHALEN: I’d love to be a cat.
DBG: We’ve got way too many cats.
RITA: Don’t let him change your mind, Dorothy – if you want to be a cat, you be a cat.
DOROTHY: Okay. There, I’m sticking to a cat.

(Conversations at Washington Country elderly mealsite, St. John's in Greenwich, NY)