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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/magsnotmaggie on 2024-11-23 13:58:02+00:00.

I just saw This Hilarious Video on /r/all and it brought back a painful memory.

When I was 11 or 12, I think, I had a cat who would meow on demand just like the one in the video. You just had to meow to him first. He’d carry on a full conversation with you if you just kept responding. It was kinda his thing. (Note: There’s a whole subreddit for cats like him: /r/catswhoyell )

One day after church, my family was about to sit down to dinner. We had the radio on to whatever station my mom liked to listen to while cooking. The host announced a contest: get your cat to meow for us, and we’ll give you a $100 gift certificate.

It was like they had designed the contest specifically for MY cat. So I screamed at my mom to call the radio station while I ran off to grab my cat. She was on hold when I returned, and miracle-of-miracles: the hold music ended, and the host came on the line. I obviously don’t remember the exact conversation, but for the sake of the story I’ll pretend it went like this (and it’s close enough that it really doesn’t matter):

Host: Hello, you’re on KNRS, THE NOT A REAL STATION!!! Who’s this?

Me: Magdalene.

Host: Hi, Maggie!* Do you have your cat with you?

Me: Hi. Yes. His name is Mr. Whiskers**

Host: OK, so Maggie, what I want you to do is hold the phone up to the cat and then get him to meow for us. Are you ready?

Me: Yes.

Host: Alright. Let’s hear Mr. Whiskers.

Me: [holding Mr. Whiskers up to the phone] Meow.

Mr. Whiskers: [dead silence]

Me: Meow. (This time I’m really working it, like doing my best cat imitation.)

Mr. Whiskers: [dead silence]

Me: (a little desperate now) MEOW?

Mr. Whiskers: [silent purring]

Host: Is that you meowing?

Me: Um…

At that point, I started panicking. I didn’t want to get caught fake-meowing. All I was doing was prompting my cat to reply! But on the other hand, I was sure I would sound like a complete nut case if I tried to explain that my cat and I held regular conversations. And even if I did that, there was no guarantee they’d believe me.

So I doubled down, and said “Meow” in my absolute best cat impression. To which the host replied something like “stay on the line, Maggie, and my staff will be right with you.” And they did. A woman came back on the line and got my full name and address. I actually got a gift card a few days later.

But it was a hollow victory because for the next half hour or so, the radio show played my fake meow over and over again, and the hosts of the show made fun of me every time. And my parents found the whole thing so adorably funny that they refused to turn off the radio. Also, another caller got in and did EXACTLY the same thing, but obviously on purpose.

And so, that’s how the story of the time I pretended to be a cat on the radio made into my family’s list of “Mags’s Most Humiliating Moments,” to be trotted out at reunions, holiday dinners, and first meetings of new boyfriends.

tl;dr: Radio show had a contest where to win you had to make your cat meow on the air. I called in, sure my ultra-talkative cat would win the show. My attempt to meow at HIM failed, making the host accuse me of faking having a cat at all. I made it worse by actually trying to fake a meow. Became the show’s running gag for a couple of hours.

Better tl;dr: Tried to fake meowing like a cat to win a radio show contest. It failed, and they used the recording to mock me.

*Probably not what happened, but every other adult called me Maggie, and I’ve always hated it so I put that in there.

**Not his real name. I’m all about feline privacy.