Frazz by Jef Mallett for January 07, 2015

My two cats, not so much. I have strange cats that do not like to jump into boxes. Or nap in boxes. They will check them out, but not play with them.

My late Smokey cat would sit in a box as I pushed and pulled him all over the house.

When my son chases the cats around the house I have to stop myself from saying, “Stop chasing the cats and watch tv or play on your tablet!”

My husband enjoyed ignoring a tv, stereo, and pool table to play “Hide and Pounce” with our two cats in the rec room – in the dark. It always gave me a laugh to hear him shrieking as the cats won another round.

What, I wonder, makes whiling away one’s spare moments playing with a kitten somehow “better” than whiling away one’s spare moments playing with an iPhone game? It is a serious question, since as far as I can tell neither activity is particularly productive, nor particularly harmful. Both are just passing some time doing something moderately amusing. So why is one “good” and the other “bad”? I say this as somebody who has neither a cat nor a smartphone, and who hasn’t played a digital game since, oh, the days of “Colossal Cave Adventure.” (I have petted a cat more recently.)

Kid was up and moving, exchanging boxes. Cat prevented from making trouble from boredom. of trouble. In fact so was Caulfield. No money spent on new apps. Or e-books.

If his folks are fine with that, who bought him the iPhone?