Every Christmas, Birthday, or other celebration that involved gifting led to my asking for a pet.  It was clear from early on that dogs were off limits.  Too expensive and too much responsibility.  Cats were also off limits.  Too allergic (my mother, not me).  My quest for a pet that met the qualifications of being ‘cheap,’ ‘not a lot of responsibility’ and ‘nonallergenic’ began.  In a time that pre-dates Target and Walmart, the store of the day was Woolworth.  Woolworth was a large-ish (by the standards of 1980) store that sold everything from food brought to you at a counter to sewing machines to hamsters.  As a child, I spent many hours at Woolworth.  I never really had any money to spend and I distinctly remember being followed around by store clerks as though they could sense our empty pockets.  Even so, I wasn’t there for anything more than to pass time.  To pass time and to develop a plan to acquire one of those adorable hamsters.  Much as I’d envisioned myself snuggling up and rolling around with a dog, I developed a clear vision of myself holding…