This story is about msi in the Biotechnology/Pharmaceuticals industry, located in berkeley, ca.
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i worked for a very brilliant scientist with very little bandwidth for anything besides science. too smart for his own good i guess...
so i come in one monday morning and find that he's sent me an email...

dear [eos],
on my way to boston for meetings. please check on my cat--she won't eat anything besides the broth i made for her and she doesn't seem to be moving at her usual pace"

this cat "tofu" is (was) 18 years old, so i figure i better get up there and see what's up with the poor dear. when i arrive, i find poor tofu is heaving and every aspect of the poor thing's face is crusted up. i grab the carrier and rush to a local vet for help. the vets let me know that tofu is a very old cat and the best they can probably do is keep the cat comfortable--but that it will probably die in the next 48 hours. i call my boss--let him know the cat is in the hospital and ask what he'd like them to do under the circumstances. he replies that he loves tofu so much and that he is willing to do whatever it takes up to $2500 (any more would be "immoral".

i get a call from the vets the next day--of course, the cat is dead. after two days of phone calls--i finally reach my boss. i tell him i'm sorry, tofu is dead, and that the vets will take care of disposing of the cat for him....silence. then he ventures "i can't possibly ask this of you, but if it were up to me i would bury my cat myself, in my yard." i say well, i understand, but you don't get home until saturday. he poses that i find some kind of container and freeze the cat until he gets home. so--off i go! i pick up the cat, and then proceed to a local drugstore and buy a container [the one with the cute insert suggesting it's a wonderful size and shape for a big batch of chocolate chip cookies!]. just before popping poor tofu into his freezer, i call and confirm that yes, indeed--he does still want the cat frozen till the weekend. sigh.

others who went to the meetings in boston return on thursday before my boss--they check in to give condolences on poor tofu and say that they are excited about attending the wake--that he's never thrown a party at his house before. i say "wake?"--"yes" folks reply, "he said that he is planning a huge party for saturday night." hmm--i know he arrives on the red-eye during the wee hours of saturday morning--how can it be? i call my boss--"hey, how are you faring? i hear you want to invite a few folks over to say goodbye to tofu?". he replies "oh, i guess i forgot to email you. please invite everyone at the institute and some of the board members to my home; arrange for catering--let's serve bbq!"

the day of the bbq--i arrive at my bosses house and we thaw the cat. my little daughter, who was fond of tofu sent along a picture the one-eyed cat dancing with a tophat and cane and gifted them an egyptian style statuette she got at the flea market. i helped him dig a hole and bury her [good thing i wore black], in between picking up bbq and signing for the catered food that was delivered. he placed the statue in the hole with the cat--and we tearfully covered up the poor cat just before the first guests arrived. i've never done anything so personal or weird for any boss before or since.