beneath the surface
There are some life lessons that are preached so regularly they are overdone. No one cares anymore and consequentially, they become one of those things everyone knows but nobody acts on. One of those lessons, for me personally, is that everyone has their own story. You never know where they’re coming from. You might not acknowledge that they’ve lived for as many days as they have, and there were a lot of things happening that shaped who they are today.
For me, that reminder came the other day in the shape of a dog. And the smell of a dog, feel of a dog, and…well, it was a dog.
There’s a dog at the office that Monsoon works at in conjunction with another guy. I don’t know what he does, but I think his name is Jimmy, and he always brings his dog to the office. When I first walked in, I saw the dog and semi-freaked out. I love quiet dogs, but I am terrified of that ring-the-doorbell-and-induce-five-straight-minutes-of-nonstop-barking-and-foot-sniffing-and-potential-licking-and-or-biting effect. I saw the dog through the glass door and was ready to tense up and hold my breath until it left. Instead, the dog just looked at me and walked away. For the next few days, I grew quite fond of the dog. It just roamed the office quietly. Never made a peep.
It was so quiet that I even made an attempt to reach out and let it lick my hand. That kind of behavior is absolutely preposterous for me, but I thought I’d give it a shot. The dog looked at me funny. I got closer and it ran away. I was really confused, but I thought little of it.
The next day, I find out that the dog was a victim of animal abuse. The previous owner treated it like shit and instilled within the dog a fear of humans getting close. I’d never interacted with a dog that was scared of people. Then again, I consciously choose to interact with dogs…close to never.
I’m not the first to admit that I do let first impressions affect my impression of people. I also won’t deny that I just judge people based on appearance, passing them on the street, but I think it’s really something special when you try to learn about someone’s story to understand them. At the least, understand that there’s a reason behind everything.
