A sensitive young man, named Bruce, asked his friend, Eric, to housesit his home, keep an eye on his elderly mother, and take care of his precious pet kitty while he and his friend went away to Europe for vacation.  

On the appointed day, Bruce and friend rose early and got on the plane and flew a long transatlantic flight, struggled with their baggage and arrived at their hotel only to find a message waiting for Bruce from Eric to the effect that the cat had escaped the house and been killed in traffic.  

Crushed and devastated by the terrible news of the death of his beloved kitty, Bruce left his friend and raced home to ask his friend what had happened to the cat.  

Eric responded that almost immedaitely after Bruce had left home, that the cat had gotten quite excited and jumped out the upstairs window and gotten out on the roof.  

“I called to him” said Eric, “but he wouldn’t come, so I crawled out on the roof to try to catch him … but when I did, he jumped into the pecan tree and went straight to the top.  

I called the Fire Department and they brought out a ladder truck to try to rescue the cat, but he cat jumped out of the tree when the fireman reached for him, and ran in the street where he was run over by a car and his rear end crushed. I took him to the Vet and the vet worked on him to try to save him, but after a while he went into a coma and died.  

” Bruce said to Eric; “Well, you didn’t have to tell me such terrible news so brutally … you could have let me down gently. Why couldn’t you let me down easier?  

He said “you could have left me one message that said the cat was out on the roof.  

Then a few hours later, you could have sent me another message that the cat had gotten up into the tree and that you had called the Fire Department to rescue the cat then you could have sent me a message that when the Fireman reached for the cat that he jumped into the street  

and then a few hours later, you could have told me that the cat had jumped out into traffic and had been grazed by a car … but that he was on the way to the Vet and was not thought to be seriously hurt.  

Then you could have told me that the cat was not doing as well as expected  

and then in a later message, you could have told me the cats condition was pretty serious, but that he was expected to survive then you could have told me that the cat was in critical condion  

and then later you could tell me that the Vet had done everything that was possible but that my poor kitty had died on the operating table without ever waking up.  

Eric was mortified … he admitted that he just felt terrible about giving the news of kitty's death in such a shocking manner and apologized profusely to Bruce.  

Bruce, anxious to get back to his friend in Europe, told Eric that he was on his way back to Europe to resume his vacation and asked Eric to please keep an eye on his elderly and ailing mother.  

When he got to his hotel room there was a voice mail message from Eric saying  

“Your Mother is out on the Roof”  

Author Unknown  

Unknown