I Don't Tell People I Hate Cats

I've come to find that there are many cat lovers, who just can't believe there are people who don't like cats.   Yes, I admit it, I hate cats.  They are disgusting moody creatures who make you feel like ripping all your skin off.  I keep my hatred of cats to myself for fear of offending some high level colleague (which I have, yikes!).

Where Did This Come From?
Let me explain.  I grew up in an apartment in Chinatown on the ground floor, in the back, with windows facing the alleyway.  Seemed like hundreds of alley cats lived out there with their rancid cat pee smell. At night I would hear their cat fighting.  Reeow, Gnarlee, Yeeeowllll.  Screeching, scratching, rumbling blood curdling cat-fights that would keep me up all night.  Terrorized and scared me as a child. The next day I would see cats with skin ripped off, bleeding, injured, limping.

I would watch them eat the garbage and flour from the bakery in the front of the building.  They would hide in the garbage area which I had to pass to get to my apartment.  One day when I went home for lunch, a cat sat right in front of my apartment door, blocking my way, taunting me to pass it. I didn't know what to do.  I stood there frozen, staring down the cat, or rather, it staring down me. Finally it moved.

Another day I opened my curtains, only to see a cat stretched out against my window screen on the fire escape, hiding from the heat.  I banged on the wall to chase it away but it just stayed there-staring at me, saying, "I wont move".  In the background, TV on,  I heard a newscaster say, "Thurmon Munson has been killed in a plane crash" and just then the cat winked at me.  I was convinced the ghost of Thurmon Munson lived in my back alley.

Conclusion
As an adult, I've gotten over my fear of cats, have even petted some at friends' house, fed a sister-in-law's cat when they were on vacation.  People with cat pets will never understand why I don't love their cats.  I will never understand how they can love these creatures.