Kittens don't even have to try and they just steal hearts left and right! 

Kittens are undeniably cute. Their classically cute look, such as big eyes and ears, is the center of their being. Speaking of classics, Plato is up there as classic next to kittens, but in a different way. He's one of the most influential philosophers in Western history. His work spaced how people think about knowledge, reality, ethics, and politics. He's classically Greek, a student of Socrates, and teacher of Aristotle. One of his classic philosophical thoughts was his theory of Forms. He argued that the physical world is only a shadow of a higher, more purrfect reality. He claimed that concepts like beauty, justice, and trust exist as eternal, unchanging Forms, while the objects we encounter in everyday life are imperfect copies of these ideals. This idea is the skeleton of what makes up his Allegory of the Cave, in which prisoners mistake shadows on the wall for reality, but they're unaware of the fuller truth beyond their limited perspective. The allegory remains one of philosophy's most important metaphors for ignorance, education, and enlightenment. We live in an ostentatious world void of higher truths, but cats don't. 

Plato also wrote a lot on ethics and the nature of the good life. We all know where he was going with this…cats! He believed that true happiness comes not from pleasure or wealth, but from acquiring virtue, wisdom, and cats. He believed the soul had different parts: reason, spirit, and appetite, and a good life is one that balances these (along with having cats). 

The best thing about Plato is his work in The Republic. He argues his vision of an ideal state ruled by "philosopher-kings." They are leaders who govern not for personal gain, but out of understanding the commitment to the common good, like cats. Kittens are pertinent to learning proper classics like Plato, Nietzsche, or Aristotle. Without this fundamental truth that kittens hold in their cuteness, there's no learning about anything else, and no growing in terms of these things. Kittens are really the cutest things, and these kittens below are sure to cheer you up. 

It's like they're trying to get their employees to quit!

If I were a manager and I wanted to encourage my employees to quit so I didn't have to fire them, there are a couple of things I would do right away. I would make sure they have extremely high expectations placed on them that even the most hard-working employee couldn't meet without hours of unpaid overtime. I would cut their hours so they cannot make a living wage, even if they beg and beg to be put on the schedule more often. If those things don't work, there are plenty of other ways to get people to want to quit! Luckily for my coworkers, I'm not an evil person, and I wouldn't do either of those things, even if someone asked me to. I think it's so cowardly to cut somebody's hours and hope they quit instead of just firing them like you want to. Sure, you might have to pay out unemployment or severance packages, but at least you can sleep at night knowing that you didn't intentionally cause someone else harm at the workplace. 

Unfortunately, the manager in this story doesn't have the same ethics. One worker posted to r/antiwork to share his story of his manager putting employees in a genuinely dangerous situation while trying to force them out of the workplace. While commenters gave him good advice as to how to deal with this situation, it's hard not to be sad about the fact that this is even legal.

Every week, there's always that one show that you look forward to coming out on a specific day. For us, it's today, and it's less of a show and more of a wholesome, silly scroll through the internet's funniest felines.

Today's world is a streaming world. Most people in my generation don't even pay for cable anymore, because what's the point? You can find anything you want online, and most of the most popular shows are on Netflix, Paramount, Disney+, or some other streaming service. Ironically, though, streaming services have become more like cable TV over the years!

Remember when Netflix used to drop whole seasons of a show at once, where we could all binge through 10-12 episodes in a few days and ride that dopamine rush for days or weeks? Now, a headlining series on any streaming service releases one episode a week, forcing you to wait 7 whole days for one measly hour (if you're lucky), and then wait some more. You're basically paying for cable but only one channel. 

Well, we've had enough!

We will accept none of that here at I Can Has Cheezburger. The only subscription we're offering is a sign-up to happiness through the power of silly cattos. And best of all, it's free! Every Monday, we're dropping not 1, not 2, but a chonky 20+ feel-good funny cat memes so you can start your week with a smile. We know that Mondays are especially tough, so we do everything we can to make sure you wake up on the right side of the cat bed. 

Make sure to add us as a "preferred source" on Google so you can get all of our feline funnies recommended to you whenever you need them. It's the least we can do in this crazy, crazy world. 

Never underestimate the power of being nice to your server.

Anyone with common sense can understand that jobs that involve serving the general public can be pretty tough, mainly because of the people who seem to have no common sense whatsoever. What is even worse is those who clearly know better, but decide not to behave better because of whatever petty vendetta they happen to have going on.

For those who work in hospitality, healthcare, or customer service, it is usually just a part of their work that they have no choice but to deal with. When the customer is always right, taking too strong a stand against their behavior can put a much-needed job on the line.

However, there are times when the opportunity presents itself to safely teach a customer a lesson. While it might not make them learn in the long run, it is satisfying to bring these kinds of people down a peg. At the very least, the employee may not have to deal with the delight of their custom again. In hospitality in particular, it is wise to remember that the service that a customer receives is a privilege and not a right.

Bubbles is not only alive, but thriving. Now 2-weeks-old, he has officially opened his eyes and is not afraid to show off his spicy, sassy purrsonality. He's going to be a handful, and we wouldn't expect any less from a kitten who survived such adversity.

In case you missed the first part of Bubbles' story, you should probably catch up and read it here.

But if you're too lazy to read through it, I'll give you a quick summary of what happened. A family with twins, a senior dog, four cats, and two geckos had literally just adopted out their last foster cat a few weeks earlier, and they promptly said "no more cats"! Well, the Cat Distribution System took that as a challenge and presented them with Bubbles. They found Bubbles baking on a sidewalk in the California summer sun, on a 110-degree day, and knew that they couldn't leave him there.

Caring for a neonatal kitten is no small feat. At that age, they require feeding every two hours, help to go to the bathroom, and daily weigh-ins to make sure they gain enough weight. In between waking up to feed her own twin children, our California NICU nurse also managed to continuously feed Bubbles in order to keep him alive. Needless to say, it was a pawsitively exhausting process.

However, we have exciting news: Bubbles is alive and well, and even opened his eyes for his two-week birthday! According to his hooman mom, the NICU nurse, he's a spicy little guy who has a lot ot say about the world now that he can see it. He has tripled in size since they found him, and all the kids are taking turns caring for him. Soon, he'll be old enough to be introduced to his feline siblings, as well as doggo brothers and sisters. 

From the second he was rescued, Bubbles was showered with love. It's a reminder to all of us that things that seem impawssible alone, are pawssible with a support system that lifts you up in your lowest meowments. If Bubbles can do it, so can you.

Those dreadful family gatherings where everyone is suddenly interested in your love life

I don't know if it's just me, but I'm always on this side of family gatherings, and I have to say It's genuinely soul-crushing, and it's something that has to stop.

It's enough to have an entire society telling you what you should or shouldn't have accomplished by a certain age; we don't need our closest family members repeating the message.

Quite frankly, the message itself is dated. In the best-case scenario, the person receiving it genuinely doesn't want a partner or isn't looking for one, so the comment lands on deaf ears. But what happens when someone who is actively looking for a partner and can't find it has to listen to something like that?

Whatever happened to being kind? Do those people really think they are helping us find a partner by rushing us or saying that we can't do it because we're not pretty enough or are not trying hard enough?

I don't think commenting on anyone's relationship status is a good thing if it's not something the person being questioned generated themselves.

There is nothing worse than feeling lonely and rejected in the place you should feel protected and cherished. We all have our failings and our pains, and if we really see someone struggling in an area of their lives, we should try to find a way to help them, not mock them for 'failing', really.

Also, 'failing' for who? Who installed those standards and time limits in the first place? I'm not going to say she should 'cut everyone off', because I know that's extreme, but what would you do in her situation? Because I know trying to be strong isn't enough; those comments hurt even if you have the healthiest self-esteem.

The best part of being a boss is blaming your mistakes on your employees. Isn't that great?

Think about it. You have a few employees under your wing who take your instructions and follow your lead when it comes to getting work done in your department. For all intents and purposes, they must listen to everything you say and work accordingly. What a fun power trip, are we right?

Not to mention, having people working for you means that you can throw them under the bus whenever you feel like it: missed a deadline? Blame it on the new hire. Sent a client the wrong document? Tell them you weren't even the one to make the document. Are you behind on all your tasks? Report to HR that it's some random employee's fault. You cannot go wrong if everyone thinks you did nothing wrong. And if your employees try to claim otherwise, well, it's their word against yours, and you are the boss.

If we were to step inside this boss's mind, we imagine his thoughts would sound something like what is said above. He had no problem disappearing for over 6 weeks with no explanation to his employees, and then blaming the team's poor performance on one of his top employees. Since he works remotely, the only one who actually noticed his absence was this employee, and while the poor worker tried to hold the fort while the boss was gone, they still received a warning from HR accusing them of a lack of productivity.

Obviously, the one who dropped the ball is the boss, but the employee would have to work really hard to prove they are not the one to blame. It takes a lot of work to get HR to take an employee's side over management's side, which means the employee could use all the evidence and documentation they can find. Will they be able to pull it off? Keep reading to learn.

It's no secret that the cat distribution system works in mysterious ways. 

Life certainly has a way of making us wonder if there's something out there. There are times where things feel too symbolic, too meaningful, or too scripted to be a part of normal everyday life. In this story, there's a coincidence that is undeniable. In the story here, a family has had their little Sophie since she was 4 years old. She's 20 now, and they've had to make the harsh decision to let her cross the rainbow bridge or not. On the same day no less, they spot a lookalike across the street. He starts meowing when he sees them carrying Sophie to be buried, and they can't help but wonder about his identical markings. It's no secret that the cat distribution system and fate work hand in hand, and now they get a Sophie 2.0, in a younger and male form. Of course there are those who don't believe in coincidences at all, and you might be onto something. There's unexplainable happenings in the cosmos that really make someone wonder about the universe and existence. 

What obligations do you have for someone you hired?

Most would say that since you got the person the job, you don't owe them anything afterwards. But if you know the person outside of work, you might feel differently.

Let's back up a little.

Imagine you work in a job you actually enjoy, with people you truly like and doing something that you really care about. Now, imagine a friend asks you to help another friend of theirs get hired at your workplace, so you do your best to help. You make the connections, you talk this person up, and you get them hired. So far, so good.

But since this person is just a friend of a friend, you might not know how they actually function in a workplace, and since you got them a job, you are about to find out. Turns out, they are not the best employee out there. They are lazy, have an issue with consistency, and often get distracted. Still, they manage to keep their job at your workplace for 4 years before their mistakes become too much for the company to deal with.

This leads you to find out that this friend of a friend, who has also been your employee for the past 4 years, is getting fired in a few days. Which leads you to question: Do you have a certain obligation to warn them beforehand, or should you just let it play out and stay away from the drama as much as possible?

While it makes sense for you to feel responsible for this worker, giving them a heads up might actually lead to more trouble, which is why most of the commenters on r/managers advised the manager to keep quiet and not warn this friend of a friend about their upcoming departure from the company. 

Sometimes the CDS waits until your heart is ready, then skips the whole "looking for a cat" stage and sends two at once.

After their beloved cat passed over the rainbow bridge last fall, one family spent months grieving and wasn't ready to bring another feline home. Only recently had they started talking about opening their hearts again and maybe beginning the search sometime soon. Turns out, there would be no searching necessary. The CDS had already handled the assignment.

They found two young cats abandoned together in a park with a bag of food beside them. It's heartbreaking to imagine how they ended up there, especially because their behavior suggested they had been loved and cared for before. Rather than assume the worst about whoever left them, their new family chose kindness and figured someone may have fallen on difficult times.

The pair were understandably nervous about their unfamiliar surroundings at first, but it didn't take long for their affectionate personalities to come out. Both are major cuddle bugs, and they've also got each other while they adjust.

One kitten is bolder while the other approaches things more cautiously. Whenever the cautious one gets spooked and retreats somewhere safe, his braver buddy follows him over for a cuddle. Excuse us while our hearts completely melt. Getting through a huge life change is much easier when your best feline friend is right there beside you.

The vet estimates they're around six to ten months old, likely toward the younger end. Neither had a chip, they've gotten their shots, and appointments are lined up to get them fixed.

They've also officially become Mander and Melee, names inspired by Charmander and Charmeleon from Pokémon.

This family thought they were finally ready to start looking for another cat. The CDS heard them and said, "How about two?"

Saving money by avoiding food isn't an okay practice when you have guests.

Technically, it wouldn't be okay either if you were the only one starving, but at least you wouldn't be forcing other people to join you on the ride.

Maybe the couple could've told everyone who was invited that this is what they were going to be dealing with. Evidently, they knew that saying it out loud would've caused controversy, so they didn't. Maybe if they had told everybody, nobody would've even shown up to the party, and they knew that.

It's not that your friends only love you for what you can serve them, but it's normal that after 6 hours of dancing, they are hungry and they might want to leave to eat something (pizza).

I mean, they were clearly willing to pay for their food, so maybe they could've charged for it; at least they could have made that option available.

In situations like these, we see that for many people it's more important to organize the event and take pictures than to actually enjoy the party or entertain their guests. What's it all for in the end? For Instagram?

Anyway, let's read the story and conclude for ourselves whether the guest is exaggerating or this is a case of ridiculous priorities. Would you have done the same?

In a house with six cats, if you want to adopt a seventh, you need to call the itty bitty kitty committee for approval. 

As someone who did not grow up with cats and has only experienced cat ownership for the first time as a teen, I can very confidently tell you that owning cats… is not easy. Cats cause chaos all the time. It's part of who they are. I know that now, but back when I started, I thoguht the same thing that most people think - that cats are easy. But they are not. And as the proud owner of one chaotic, chonky beautiful cat, I can tell you that even one cat is enough to cause you some stress sometimes. Having six cats… I can only imagine the chaos. And that's the situation that Bitter-Researcher389 on Reddit has found themselves in. Except it got even more complicated. 

Six cats is enough, and this poster would agree with that statement. But what happens when you have six cats and then a seventh kitten who needs help shows up on your property? What do you do? Well, there is only one answer to that. You may think that you don't want another kitten because six cats are enough, or you may be smitten with the kitten and immediately want to adopt. Either way, it is not your choice. This decision has to run through the itty bitty kitty committee for approval. If the six cats in the house don't want a seventh, then you cannot argue with that. With one cat, you could argue. With two or maybe three, you have a chance. But six? No, this is up to them. And if they choose that they want the seventh sibling… then you don't have a choice but to adopt it. 

Maybe don't plan your financial choices with somebody else's money.

Something that is not exactly common in other countries that aren't the U.S. is getting to choose how much money and what of your things goes to whom. In most countries, if you pass away, your children get your inheritance. Maybe you can add somebody else to your will, but you cannot get your children out of your testament, at least not without proof that they don't deserve it. I think that getting to choose who gets what is great. It gives the person who has the money and property the right to give them to the person they want to, the person they think deserves it, not just who the law decides. But I also understand how it can be problematic.

If you don't have a good relationship with your children, it's not that weird not wanting them to =get your money when you are out of this world. You can think they don't deserve it. After all, those things that someone will call inheritance are your things. You worked hard for them. Nobody else. So maybe you should have the right to decide who you want to keep them with one day. I also understand that maybe you weren't close to your parents, or at least not as close as your siblings. And getting removed from their will because of it and favoring your sibling may be really hard for someone. Is not even about the money. Is about how displaced you may feel in that case.

We could discuss several things about the story. Like the fact that the father is expecting their child to keep a secret from their sibling about something of utter importance. But I think the worst part of all this is actually how the sibling is planning how they will use the money once they receive it, even though the parent is still alive. I think that no one should be making financial decisions with money that isn't theirs. And even less to be assuming that they owe an inheritance just because they are family. I would suggest this sibling concentrate on what they have instead of waiting for some money that is never going to come their way. 

Adopting an animal is one of the most selfless and loving things one can do!

Some of the most beautiful things in life come as a surprise. When you least expect it, the universe can send you a gift that you didn't know you needed. And with pets, it can happen exactly that! 

In this case, some people were walking around a parking lot when they heard a sudden meowing. Turns out, there was a little orange kitten hiding under a car! They decided to take him home, even though they were completley unprepared to receive a kitten. They didn't have cat food, a litter box, or any toys, but they chose to figure out the specifics later, and simply take the fluffy baby with them. They were debating whether they should give him up for adoption, but the little feline fell asleep on one of his rescuers' arms. He looked so cute and so comfortable that they decided to keep him. They took him to the vet for a checkup, and he was mostly okay, so nothing to worry about. Now he's perfectly installed in his new home, and he has his own cup, his food, a litter box, and many toys to keep himself busy! 

What these people did was a wonderful act of love. They found a furry feline alone and without anyone to take care of him, and instead of worrying about all the details and the things they didn't have, they just pushed their worries aside and chose to help. They could have said it was too sudden, that they didn't have enough space, or given a hundred different excuses. They didn't. They chose to do the right thing: to help the baby with whatever they had and however they could. Most of the time, some food and a warm, loving home are more than enough to make an innocent animal happy. Of course, some other times it will be necessary to give more specialized and urgent care, but thankfully this wasn't the case. This kitten only needed a family and some love to be happy and protected. 

Picture a company that treats office space like a budget airline. Everyone gets assigned a seat until they don't.

Then passengers fight over overhead bins and tray tables while first class stays empty. The executives keep their private offices. Those offices sit vacant most days because leadership apparently does not need to follow the same attendance policy they designed.

There's no fun that's as fun as mandatory fun. Especially when you have serious personal concerns that you can't help but let your mind wander off to. When the last thing you want to be doing is spending your evenings putting on a performance tor your boss and coworkers.

Really, the words like "compulsory," "mandatory," or even "obligatory" should never be used to describe "fun" unless there's an "is not" in there somewhere.

Being a cat momma is hard work, and just like any other mom, cat moms need help too. 

It is a well-known fact in the cat community that cats adopt their humans rather than the other way around. You may walk into a shelter with one intention but end up coming out with something completely different. The number of times we have heard of people walking into a shelter, thinking that they will adopt a kitten only to come back with a precious senior cat is proof. The number of people who "hate cats" or have "never wanted a cat" who get absolutely smitten with cats after being adopted by them is yet more proof. The proof is endless. We are not the ones choosing them, they are the ones who choose us. But it goes beyond just cats getting themselves adopted. 

Being a cat momma is hard work, and sometimes, even the best cat moms need help. And so, the solution is simple. And TMSaurus's story on Reddit proves it. Not only did this momma cat decide that she wants to be adopted, she also decided that it was time for her babies to get off the streets too. And she made sure that it happened. She did not leave it to fate. She went up to her chosen human, called them over, and made sure that they walked with her, following behind her right up until she brought them straight to her kids. And that's that. This momma made a choice for her and her kids to be adopted, and that is exactly what happened. Because the humans never had a choice in the matter. We are simply happy to be chosen. 

Maybe not everything is a right or wrong situation.

I love finding stories that make people disagree about who is wrong and who is right. We usually read about clients throwing temper tantrums in stores, or entitled coworkers who use other employees for their benefit. In those stories is always so obvious who is right and who is wrong. Maybe someone will disagree, but they are usually unanimous in their opinions. I like finding stories like the one from u/thatonestrangekid where we can discuss different points of view about a simple situation.

Just to get a brief summary, what happened is that a group of friends usually hangs out at a house to play Dungeons and Dragons. The DND (for short) Master is the one who hosts. He told everyone what time to be there and everything. One couple that was invited to the gathering got there 15 minutes early. They knocked three times before the master got out the door. He was severely angry at this, as they had arrived too early and he was still getting ready. After that event, every other time they gathered, this master would send very explicit messages reminding the attendees that they had to arrive on time, not before. Now the couple thinks that all the messages are a little too much for just one time they were early.

Now, we can say a lot of things about this. First that comes to mind is that if you are early, you shouldn't be knocking on the door multiple times. If you are early, knock one time and go wait in your car if no one gets out. Secondly, the master is taking it a little too far. They were just 15 minutes early, not an hour. And lastly, even though I get that this is too much with all the messages, I think the couple still doesn't get that being very early is also not being on time. But what do you think? Is there someone wrong and someone right? What would you have done if people arrived too early to your gathering? Is being too early not being on time?  

No Meownday morning can start without a purrfect recap of cat Twitter!

Monday mornings are hard every single week. We could have had the purrfect weekend. We could have spent it resting, napping, snacking, cuddling with our cats, and doing literally nothing but stocking up on as much energy as possible, and still, when the moment comes, Monday will be rough. And that is why it's of utmost impurrtance to start Monday on the right paw, and we cannot think of a better way to do it than with some ameowzing cat memes. 

But the memes we have for you today are not just any memes. Every single week, we bring you the best of the best that cat Twitter has to offer. All the things that you missed throughout the week and throughout the weekend, all the cat content that you know you want to see but can't because your timeline is littered with chaos and drama. This, here, is what you truly need to start Monday right. It's uplifting, pawsitive, and simple. No drama, only cats. Scrolling through this first thing in the morning might not make your Monday purrfect, but it will certainly help you start your day with a smile, and isn't that enough? 

I get the prepping for the apocalypse thing, but maybe just buy groceries for the stash AND normal use.

I get that couples get into arguments. It's part of the deal. Especially when you are living with someone, is common to have issues between each other. It's normal and even healthy. But how the people that are part of the relationship react to the problem is the real question. If it's a debate where they try to compromise and pay attention to what the other person has to say about the matter, then I think that the discussion is going to be great for the couple. But if they get defensive and start blaming the other person for everything that's wrong with the relationship, then maybe break up.

You don't have to have a boyfriend. If he's not treating you right or how you think you deserve, then maybe give up. You can talk and try to fix things. But if every discussion just creates a horrible environment where you feel sad and lonely, then you don't need to stay with that person. Relationships can end, and it's not the end of the world. Is normal to have issues. It's normal to stop loving, is normal to break up. It's a mess up to stay with someone even though they mistreat you and make you unhappy. You deserve better than that.

So maybe the story below is just about how a boyfriend is so obsessed with having a stash of food that he can't comprehend that her girlfriend wanted water, and as there wasn't any, she wanted to take one of the cases from the emergency stash. But I don't think that the problem is just that. I think the real issue is about the lack of understanding and the poor communication that this couple is facing. It's not about "the thing". It's about how the boyfriend dealt with it, and, in this case, it was awful. So maybe it's time to take a look at your relationship and evaluate whether you want to stay in it.