The Baby-sitters Club #22: Jessi Ramsey, Pet-sitter
Okay, dear readers, fear not. I've not forgotten you. Much as I would love to read and recap the BSC full-time, the world does not see the value in this (YET) and therefore, even BSC recappers must have day jobs. And sometimes, those day jobs go haywire and take over your life.
Speaking of jobs going haywire, Jessi Ramsey has decided, against Kristy's better judgment, to take a pet-sitting job. Oh Jessi, when will you ever learn that going against Kristy's better judgment is never, ever a good idea? See, the Braddocks are out of town and Jessi's dance school is "taking a break" (um, okay? Never heard of any fancy pants dance school deciding they should just shut down for a week, but let's just roll with it, all right?) so Jessi has free afternoons for once. And it just so happens that the BSC gets a frantic call from Mr. and Mrs. Mancusi, whose pet-sitter backed out on them right before the trip of a lifetime. Kristy, remembering her experience with Buffy and Pinky, is all offended, but Jessi thinks it sounds fun and talks her into letting her take the job.
Good lord, the Mancusis are running a zoo out of their house! I swear, there is just something wrong with people like this. Yes, I'm a horrible person who doesn't like animals, not in nature and definitely not in my house, but even the most ardent animal lover has to think this is a little weird. Seriously, people, they've got like 3 dogs, 4 cats, a bunch of guinea pigs, hamsters, birds, rabbits, and a snake. I wonder what the neighbors think.
The Mancusis go off on their vacay, and Jessi thinks its just so much fun, but also hard work! to care for the animals. Jessi also thinks herself on a power trip, as she decides that she is the only one who can properly care for the animals. I get that it's supposed to demonstrate how responsible she is, but seriously, Jessi? I think Becca can hold one of the leashes when she accompanies you on a walk. I really don't think the Mancusis would mind, but Jessi's all "No, I'm the one who was left in charge, I must walk the dogs." Dude, when I used to pet-sit for my neighbors (who, like normal people, had one dog and one cat) I used to do almost anything to get one of my siblings to do it for me, but in a way that I still got to keep the $10 my neighbor gave me, despite my parents' repeated protests that we did not take money for helping our neighbors. Considering how many times my neighbor had to use her spare key to let me in to my house because I was too irresponsible to remember my own, I probably should have either paid her or fed her cat for free, but I usually tried to get out of it with tricks like "Hey Andy, I'll give you a Jolly Rancher if you go feed Peaches while I sit here and watch a Full House rerun I've seen 600 times before." Oh to have a sibling so young and dumb again. He grew out of it so quickly.
So Jessi gets really concerned because one of the hamsters doesn't seem to be moving and is really fat. She thinks something is wrong with it, so she watches it for a few days before concluding that it's sick and she has to take it to the vet, because what if it dies on her watch? She calls her mom, and rather than laughing and hanging up, as I would have, her mother indulges her paranoia and drives her to the vet's office. How does the vet's receptionist refrain from laughing when Jessi explains her "fat, lethargic hamster emergency?" I certainly wouldn't be able to. Seriously, does anyone take a hamster to the vet? Don't they just die, and then you go back to the pet store and get another one for $5? That's what we always did with the class hamster in grade school. You watched it for a few days, realized it wasn't moving, tattled to Mrs. Parker, who tried poking it with a stick, when it didn't respond, she took it away somewhere and the next day there was a new hamster, and everyone was excited because we got to pick a new name for it. That is the life cycle of a hamster. It does not involve the vet. (Please don't yell at me. I understand not everyone is as heartless as me and that people love their pets, and if someone left you in charge of their pets, you might prefer that all pets are still healthy when they return. But come on. Do vets even see hamsters?)
Turns out, hamster is pregnant! Woo, big surprise ending. The BSC basically gathers around to stare and watch them be born, which is absolutely disgusting to me (and to Mary Anne.) The Mancusis come home to happy house full of animals, including like 10 extra hamsters, one of which they give to Jessi's family, so Jessi and Becca get a pet, who they call Misty, who goes on to win "Best All-Around Pet" in a BSC pet show. Woo-hoo!
In BSC news, everybody is mad and fighting with each other because they no longer like their positions in the club (except for Kristy, who loves being president and is also on a power trip, but that's just her personality.) Dawn doesn't like having to listen to everyone whine about paying dues (isn't it like, $1 a week or something? Dude, ladies, suck it up and fork it over.) MA is tired of having to track every minute detail of everyone's schedules. Claud is just pissy because Kristy bosses them all around when she doesn't actually do much of anything besides have great ideas (and boss them all around.)
Ergo, they decide to hold new elections for club officers. There is much back and forth and fighting about the best way to do this, with Kristy coming up with a good plan that the others basically reject because Kristy came up with it and their tired of being lame and uncreative next to her. Finally they decide to hold a special meeting where they will vote by secret ballot. Mal and Jessi feel like they are being put in the middle because they have to vote when they see all sides of the argument (they are not up for new positions because they are just junior members.) Finally voting day comes, and all club members are unanimously voted back into their original positions! Oh, the clever irony. As always, the girls make up, and everything goes along on its merry way. The end.
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