vacuums and things that sound like them

Our kitten does not apperciate the sound of the vacuum cleaner. In fact, he pretty much hates that sound and anything that sounds like it. Turn on the vacuum and quickly he's across the house, hiding in the bedroom. So it should have come as a surprise to me when I turned on the air popper for some popcorn last night {we watched Toy Story 3} that the little guy {well, he's not so little any more} would blot across the house. But, for some reason my brain shut off at that point. Bad idea to have your brain stop working, even for a moment.

I ran after the kitten as the kernels started to explode they way out of the popper. I felt certain the kitten would find it so entertaining to watch them descend down the shoot. Why it didn't register that he had already ran from the room in terror I'm not sure. Being an unthinking human I picked him up and took him back to the room of loud scary noises all the while talking to him about how much fun it will be to watch the popcorn. WRONG!

He freaked out. Clawed his way violently from my arms and raced back into the bedroom. Oh right, now I remember that this is a sound you hate. But it was a harsh way to remember. First, I felt horrible for making the kitten experience more scary noises. And secondly, I was left with a huge, bleeding scratch on my chest. Ouch! Serves me right though. {I'll spare you any picture as it is nasty looking.} Now maybe I'll remember my lesson.