Things People Say

I have developed a fairly thick skin over the years. You just don't let everything hurt you, because with age you come to realize that most people don't hear the inane things that pop out of their mouths. Here are a few things I've heard in the past week:

"Well, where is the dog exactly, so I know where to look?"

Caller - "Is this the lady with the dog?"
Me - "Yes, it is."
Caller - "Well, have you found it yet?"
Me - "No, I have not."
Caller - "Ok, I didn't want to waste my time if you did." click

At the dog park -
"So you still can't find him?" - Do you see Sarge standing at my feet?

At Weight Watchers -
Me - "I am going to be down some this week, ladies. This is a flyer for my lost dog. Can I leave it here? And he is the reason for the weight loss."
1st lady - "OH, I am so sorry. Step on the scale." She looks up at me, and shakes her head. I had lost 5.6 pounds in one week.
2nd lady - "That is too big of a weight loss." Lips are pursed, her entire demeanor is disapproval. I bit my tongue on this one, because by yesterday morning, I was at the end of my personal rope and what would have come flying out would not have been pleasant.

I have put well over a hundred miles on the car. Gracie and I have walked through woods, fields, brush gently calling his name. Friends and people that aren't friends but want the reward have searched. Yes, we see Sarge. No, we can't catch him. When Vicky was on the morning drive radio show last Friday, we had a lot of calls to help with the search. Then after the posting that we saw Sarge, but he wouldn't come to me, one woman made this comment online:

"I'd like to know why her own dog wouldn't come to her."

Well. Isn't that special? How the hell do you think I feel? I'd LOVE to know why he ran, but here is what I think. It was storming, he was literally yards away from a large train yard, with several sets of tracks, making constant noise. Sarge hates loud noises. So he ran. But the inference was that I was a bad dog mom, and that Sarge had ran because he was being abused. Yeah, well bite me. If there is one thing that I do know, that I can hold in my heart forever, it is that I gave this dog the best home he has ever had. Sarge was never hit, he was verbally corrected, but that didn't happen very often. He is the good dog, the one who never does anything wrong.

The playmate that Gracie misses so much, she is grieving. It has been a very long week indeed.
Linda