I should buy the Pope / a Catechism
A newspaper cat realization post.
Halfway through a Tuesday meeting you realise you have never actually read the terms and conditions of anything. Not the bank, not the phone, not the gym that still has your card. You nod at the screen and make a note: "should read things". You're holding a hot drink, doing nothing in particular, when the thought arrives that you should finally sort out your life. The cup is warm. The plan is vague. You finish the tea and call it progress. It's a week before your mum's birthday and you've had the idea for ages. You've had it on the bus, in the shower and at 2am. It will still be an idea on the day, delivered with a card and a very sincere "sorry it's late". Somebody says a word you've nodded along to for a year. Everyone seems to know it. You sip your tea, look wise, and quietly resolve to look it up when nobody's watching. **Why it caught on:** the picture shows a cat in a dark suit sitting at a table with a cup and saucer, a newspaper in front of him, gazing off to the side as if a plan has just occurred to him. People captioned it with "I should buy..." style thoughts, usually a small errand or a large bad decision delivered in the same calm tone. It spread because the pose fits any moment of quiet, self-satisfied resolve, and because the follow-through is nearly always missing.