You know how they say don’t judge a book by its cover, of course, it’s quite difficult not to, as it’s our first instinct to do so, the first impressions always tend to influence us quite a bit, upon meeting someone or buying something.
According to Psychology Today, “we’re so often more influenced by our own biases than we are by actual evidence. When we have a powerfully positive or negative emotional reaction to someone upon first meeting them—often due to their overall presentation—it powerfully affects our reaction to the ‘content’ we find inside, meaning their personality and character.”
And this is what is our story about today, first impressions, and how people often can be wrong, judging someone only based on his/ her appearance. Meet Bean, the cutest cat with the “saddest” face you have ever seen!
Bean until recently was the proud resident of an animal shelter, and while all her friends were getting adopted, she was overlooked as she was too “grumpy” and too “ugly”.
Her luck though changed when one day Francisca Franken saw Bean’s picture on a website and that was it, love at first sight. Francisca decided that she wanted to adopt Bean.
Through the website, she found out that the poor baby had been in the shelter for nearly a year and the shelter’s visitors didn’t choose her because she wasn’t “pretty” enough.
As Francisca explained, ” I saw her photo and fell in love the second I saw her. Well, at first I laughed because the pictures were so funny and I’d never seen a cat like this before. She looked like she was 20+ pounds and a real rough street gangster. So naturally, I had to meet her”.
Francisca immediately contacted the shelter and started the necessary paperwork for Bean’s adoption.
As Francisca confessed, “I sent them an email with personal information and stuff and really tried my best to make it as informative as possible so they would pick me to adopt her. I couldn’t sleep all night because I was so nervous and sent her picture to all my friends.”
“She was described as a feisty little diva, who had some health problems due to being an exotic shorthair. One lovely friend of mine said, ‘well, (she is) exotic indeed’ and that stuck with me forever”.
When the shelter finally contacted Francisca to make an appointment with her, she was already too nervous as she really wanted to get Bean. The shelter’s personnel was delighted that Francisca wanted Bean as until then nobody had shown any real interest in the poor cat!
“So on January 8th I put on my nicest blouse and trousers and went to see her. I was absolutely overdressed but wanted to make a good first impression. They were all so friendly and loving”, said Francisca.
In the end, like in any happy-ending story, the two of them left the shelter together, Bean finally had a home to go to and a person to love her!
Bean has now fully adapted to her new reality and is thriving. As Francisca said, “Bean is doing well! She’s bubbly and curious and would spend the whole day outside or on the balcony if she could”.
Such a beautiful and inspiring story, let’s hope that more people in the future will take time to meet their future pets and get to know them before making any decisions. Everyone deserves a warm home, pretty or not!
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