A Pig Named Sue

I don't recall exactly how I got my parents to "ok" the inclusion of a rodent into our family, but I think "Guinea Pig" was the lower rung of a ladder of evils that led all the way up to "Dog". So it happened that one day in 1976 we brought Sue home from the pet store. She was young and plump, the latter for good reason. A few short weeks later I noticed alertly that I now possessed TWO Guinea Pigs. Sue had been pregnant. Following my 50's-housewife-style naming convention, I named Sue's daughter "Jane". Now that I think of it, my second crush was a girl named Jane in elementary school...

Having Guinea Pigs was not exactly like I thought it would be. They aren't very interactive. Pretty much they just eat alfalfa and produce enormous numbers of small, perfectly torpedo-shaped turds. I think we should really look at them as furry turd-factories more than pets. And do they love lettuce! I can still hear the tiny rapid crunching sounds in my head.

I think I had nine all together in my "Guinea Pig Days" (Our birth rate had really picked up shortly after we added a male to the mix). I don't remember all their 50's-style names, but that's ok. Sue and Jane were my favorites.