I am yet to find someone my age or older that says they love doing grocery. There is something about doing grocery that has chore written all over it.
And I would be safe in assuming that chores is not something anyone would particularly look forward to doing.
So here I am on the grocery day, the day when all the gravity of the world is concentrated on my bed and the strongest electromagnetic force of the world is keeping a book glued to my hands.
Stepping out of bed is particularly difficult considering the forces I am facing. An image of an empty fridge flashes before my eyes.
Me says to meself : Come on, can’t be that lazy!
So I step out for my grocery shopping. These days, I do not see many people on the road, but like a charm or a curse, I always see at least one person that will choose that precise time to go for a run.
Incidentally this person will always have a great body and after apparently running for such a long time , didn’t break a sweat. If I was not feeling guilty until that point, I did now.
Head down, I keep walking until I see a couple in a distance walking their dog. I wasn’t able to see it clearly but what was unmistakable in that dog was its enthusiasm, and the pride of having two humans dote on him.
The dog seemed blissfully happy, full of energy like he was seeing the world for the first time.Happiness, as they say, is contagious. I suddenly felt the urge to walk faster to see the dog closely.
The strangest thing happened. As soon as I was within 5 meter distance from the dog, our eyes met and facing my direction and looking at me, the happy dog sat down.
Oh! My heart just melted.
The humans with him were trying to pull on his leash but he didn’t budge. Now, I have never had dogs, so I didn’t know what was to be done next. So I gave him one flying kiss in my head and walked on.
That one chance encounter with that lovely creature taught me a lot of things. I now believe all the great things they say about having dogs.
I have since watched Airbud, Hachiko and A Dog’s purpose, absolutely loved them and discovered that I cry more in dog movies than human ones.
So when Moby says:
“Dogs have boundless enthusiasm but no sense of shame. I should have a dog as a life coach”
.. I have no doubts that it is a 100% true and if I was as eloquent as him, I would say the same.
If I really like something about a stranger walking on the road, I would think a thousand times before I complimented them, if I did. And here is the little creature, not knowing who I was, treating me as well as a long lost friend. Imagine, the humans he was with, and I didn’t exchange any words.
The dog and I did conversed more than that.
Dogs have a way of knowing us in a way that no human can. It’s not for nothing that they are called a man’s best friend.
I wish for a lot of good things for you, and after shamelessly tweaking the epic line from Star Wars, I will say:
May a dog be with you!
Friends of Words 