Residents of New York City are staying indoors and tourists are staying away as the number of cases of COVID-19 increases rapidly in the city. In a strange turn of events, the number of rats seen on the streets has significantly increased as well. With lack of food from food carts, trash and litter, rats have resorted to breaking into restaurants and cooking for themselves.
“There’s so many of them,” one restaurant owner complains. “I live above my restaurant and I hear them scurrying all night, sometimes I can’t sleep because they’re blasting the Ratatouille soundtrack.”
Others are impressed by the sheer talent of these rats. World renowned chef Gordon Ramsay jokes on Twitter: “I should hire some of them, they’re a lot better than some of the donkey-brained chefs I’ve seen on Hell’s Kitchen.”
Not only have the rats taken over the restaurant business, others are even replacing other jobs, such as driving taxis.
When a brave resident took a cab earlier this week, she was expecting a human driving. Much to her surprise, it was not a person, but rather multiple rats taking the form of an adult man in what many call a “Rat King”.
“I would’ve gotten out of the car if they weren’t so friendly. They drove well too, so I tipped them generously.”
Rats have always been in the shadows of New York City, living in subway stations and alleyways, fighting for food. But with the lack of people in this bustling city, rats have proven to not only be able to live in peace, but to continue economic and social growth while humans currently cannot.
