“Should I pet or not?”
According to commuter Dan Kashani, who ultimately made the decision to record what frequently occurs with a local cat known as Shawarma, that is the difficulty that daily commuters at a railway station in Israel deal with pretty much every day.
Ever since the street cat was taken in by the local station in Petah Tikva, a city near Tel Aviv, Shawarma has been a fixture of the station — a literal fixture.
“I was coming back from work,” Kashani said. “As soon as I got to the gate I saw the cat lying on the gate and it was very cute — it made me smile.”
Even though Kashani has seen Shawarma before, this time he decided he needed to capture the moment. Kashani’s video shows Shawarma relaxedly lounging on one of the turnstiles as passenger after passenger swipes their tickets.
Since Kashani shared the video of the local superstar, she has established herself as a sort of global figure and attracted attention from all over the world.
The number of individuals who passed the cat without even noticing her as they did shocked some viewers (“Pet the friggin cat you animals!” one commentator said), but Kashani claims that Shawarma has a reputation for being a little unpredictable.
Whether you extend your hand and wait to see if she’s interested, you may pat her, Kashani told The Dodo. She will occasionally let folks know with a tiny scratch or bite, though, if she isn’t into it. She needs to be interested.
On that particular day, though, Shawarma did consent to a little head-petting from at least one passenger; the moment is charming but fleetingly captured in the film.
After the video got shared over and over, not only did Kashani get 1,200 friend requests on Facebook, he also received a call from the local mayor.
“The mayor called me up and said, ‘I want to meet that cat — what station is it?’” Kashani said. “I told him and he actually went there and met the cat.”
Kashani stated, “He gave her food, treats, a toy, and patted her.” “You’re a nice mayor, I didn’t vote for you, but I’ll do so now!” I said.
