Check the tail end

Someone on my Freecycle list was looking for a male kitten, which made me think back to my first apartment and the cat we had. I was just barely 18, and living in this total shithole with the guy I was dating. I wanted a cat, and his mom knew someone who had kittens, so I came home from work one night to find a cute little grey furball and the required accessories. I was totally stoked to have this cat. You see, I had to give away my childhood pet, because my step-dad's German Shepard wanted to eat him, so this was my "replacement" now that I was on my own. I named her Princess, because I wasn't very creative and it seemed like a perfectly acceptable kitty name. Fast forward about 3 months, my Grandmom is visiting from Florida, and stops by my apartment. After telling me I really ought to get curtains, and shouldn't I get a couple throw rugs to brighten up the place, she picks up Princess to show her some love. "Crystal, why on earth would you name this cat Princess?" "Well, I don't know, it seemed like a good name. What's the big deal?" She proceeds to lift up the cats tail, and show me it's rear end. Meanwhile, I'm thinking "Wow, she's totally lost it, why do I want to look at a cat's butt?" My wonderful grandmother tells me "It's a BOY cat! You don't name a boy cat Princess!" No, that can't be right... I specifically asked for a female kitten. She's crazy, right? "This cat has a ding-a-ling! Look! Those are his jewels! What on earth did you think that was?" Sure enough, she was right, I'd been calling my boy cat Princess for months. One might think I'd be able to tell the difference at 18, but sadly I believed it was a cooter. *Sigh* So much for all those years of Sex Ed right? We promptly renamed the cat Flip, but I'm sure it couldn't have been good for his self image.