You get your own place, and you realise that as master of your domain, you can do anything you want. There’s an unease around the fact that you no longer need to seek permission to make things happen. To make use of this new found power, you decide to get a pet. Your parents never let you have a pet of your own, so it’s time to put that right. You’re a grown-up now!
You are suddenly responsible for another life. One that relies on your to clean up after it, make sure it gets fed, and monitored for its overall well-being. You realise why you were told you can’t have a pet; these things are work. Food costs money and you have to remember to buy more, assuming you remember to actually feed you new friend in the first place. They aren’t nearly as much fun as you expected, cleaning up after them is a pain and you keep putting it off. Planning a holiday now means finding someone to look after your dumb animal. Why didn’t someone sanity check this idea before you made it happen? Surely somebody should have had to sign off on this. Bubbles, your goldfish, is also silently judging you and your life choices.
Lesson – just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
