Give an avocado gift to a friend as a kind gesture. Give an avocado gift to a friend to show them that you care in a quirky, unexpected way. Your friend was eating avocado toast long before this meal became fashionable and this friend often paired it with Brie cheese as a snack. Give a head pat to a friend who’s much taller than you to let them know how enjoyable it is to pat their head, especially if they have silky hair. They’ll most likely find it strange that you’re patting their head in an affectionate display but they won’t find it strange because they know you very well. Pour the first bowl of the new cereal you just bought to your neighbor who lives across the hall. Chances are they won’t be home because everyone breakfasts at different hours but you can still leave it on the welcome mat for him. If his welcome mat isn’t a sign of welcome then the doormat will do. The amber colored Pomeranian who lives three doors down will enjoy this sudden treat before you remember that this neighbor told you in the elevator three months earlier that he’s not really a fan of breakfast. Pay your rent three months early to let your landlord know just how responsible you are. Your landlord won’t understand it’s three months early and will assume it’s the current month’s rent but you know the truth and that’s all that matters. Pay your friend who has a young child to let you take their young child out for an afternoon ice cream cone. You’ve read it’s a sign of a problem to eat ice cream alone so if you’re eating ice cream with a child, then you’re not eating it alone right? Brush your hair one hundred strokes every night before bed. That’s how you keep your hair healthy. Take the brushed out strands of hair and weave them into a unique key chain for your backpack. That’s called recycling. Bake a birthday cake for your cat when she turns seven. Her favorite kinds are chocolate and strawberry so you choose cocoa frosting and slice a box of red, ripe fruit across the top. Play your cat’s favorite songs by Nina Simone and Christina Aguilera and brush her fur for two hundred strokes. Make another key chain and feel good about how environmentally friendly you are. Plant some basil in the empty pot on your porch and water it every day for three days. Then take your basil pot to the new pizza shop across the street that everyone grumbles about because they miss the old one. Leave it on the rusting picnic table outside with a note that says “EAT ME ONCE I’M GREEN” taped to the bottom of the pot. Trap an ant beneath a glass and let it go instantly, before the ant ever realizes she’s captured. Take the long way home from work to delay the realization that you have nothing to do once you get there. You live across the street from work so try not to laugh too loudly at the irony of it all. Bake yourself a strawberry pie on Wednesday night and share one gigantic slice with your cat because you know it’s her favorite. Lick your paws together and revel in the warmth of it while sharing a knowing glance. Let this cat sleep in your bed while you curl up in her burlap cat tower. It’s not too cramped when you wrap your arms tightly around your knees. You can hear her purring from the other room.
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Jennifer Spadaccia is a New Orleans-based creative writer, teacher, and artist originally from New York. Jennifer currently teaches young children at an arts based preschool while writing short stories and personal essays rooted in reflection and observations. Jennifer is a lover of theater, painting, tap dancing, and her cranky calico cat Nicole. When not attempting to type out her inner musings in an interesting and humorous way, Jennifer can be found trying her other failed hobby, knitting, with Nicole the cat nearby.