For all the “in communist Russia” jokes that ring a little too true (source: born and raised in Moldova), it’s nice to see some heartwarming news coming from the region. Today, the story of a cat who just got hired by a museum and will be paid entirely in caviar. How’d he get the job? Turns out it was a prank gone terribly, terribly right.
Maray the cat has been a frequent visitor at the Serpukhov’s Museum of History and Art for a long time. He’s so beloved by the staff (who let him just chill because you can’t stop cats from loving art) that they even named him in tribute to the former owner of the building, who Hyperallergic points out, loved cats. But giving the cat a name and a place to hang on cold days wasn’t enough. On April Fool’s Day, the staff actually created a fake job application for the cat and then, because it was so good, they sent it off to the media with a press release, no doubt hoping to garner some attention for the museum.
Well, whatever they did worked, and Maray suddenly found himself in the middle of a media frenzy in which people began petitioning for him to be hired as a formal employee. And while he may not be able to speak or lead tours, according to his application (translated by imgur user Pixieslasher) he has all the necessary qualifications.
Here’s the translated note (misspelling intentional because a cat wrote this, come on):
“Since I am a direct disendant of Maraeva’s cat,” it reads, “I request too be given a job at your our moozeum.”
The part with the crossed out “your” to make it “our” is especially cute. You ever meet a cat? It’s surprising that the application doesn’t say “my museum” because you know he thinks he owns that sh*t.
Look at this cat!
According to a post on imgur, Maray will not only enjoy a daily shift from 9-5, but will be given a break for lunch (in between naps, obviously), fed fish and caviar, and enjoy a daily walk. And, if he so chooses, he can sleep in a tent the museum provides him. It’s at this point that you’re probably realizing you shouldn’t send this story to your mom because she’ll be all “why is this cat achieving more than you? He didn’t even go to college!”
Maray also made it onto TV news:
He even filmed a video in which he just eats caviar:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BD7yUxtKH6W
Look how proud he is! This is obviously a cat who will take his job very seriously:
You can tell how seriously he’s taking it because he’s not clawing the hell out of this guy:
But there’s always time for a selfie!
Here’s hoping Maray has many happy years at the museum!
