There’s a watch shop that I go to. They sell and repair watches, watch bands, and replacement batteries. For your quick needs, such as getting a replacement battery (my usual reason to be in there), there are a couple of chairs where you can sit down and wait. Usually they have playing on the wall a large video of a Rolex watch being completely taken apart piece by piece and then being put back together again. Seeing all those intricate parts is astonishing. This seems to be a puzzle to beat all puzzles.
That watch whose innards I have now seen several times is at the opposite pole of the price realm of the watches I bring in for repair or new batteries, or to replace a worn band. Sometimes I have been embarrassed to bring in such cheap watches, but every time he or his other employees will treat it with as much respect as if they were the finest of time pieces, such as some that are in their display case or in beautiful catalogues on a table between the waiting room chairs.
The owner of the shop has a tiny little light brown dog that stays with him in the inner sanctum where the owner does his work. I have never seen in there, the waiting room is the realm for the customers. But that little dog loves to come out from there whenever somebody comes in the shop. He can hear when the door opens, and he immediately comes right out to see who has is there. He is extremely cute and doesn’t say a word, no barking or panting or whining like some dogs, and he doesn’t jump up on anybody. He will just come out, see who it is and maybe hang around their feet for a while, especially if the customer bends down to pet him, which almost everyone does, because he is so cute. As for me, I will go sit down on one of the chairs and he will cover to where my feet are and I bend down to pet him for a long while. He is so soft and smooth and loves the petting but never makes a noise; he just absorbs the pleasure of being pet. In times will I have been sitting there for a while, I will stop petting the dog and will watch the Rolex video. When that happens, the dog then lies down right on top of my shoes as if that setting was as confortable as a doggy bed and goes right to sleep!
I can tell you that having a very cute little dog curled up to sleep on your feet is extremely charming. It is practically a therapy. There have been a few times when I was disappointed that the repaired watch was fixed so soon and I had to undo the cozy situation of the dog sleeping on my feet. I would gently get up and the dog would wake up, and realizing that I am now going to be walking over to the cash register, he will go back to the repair sanctum, ready to come out again the next time he hears the sound of the door opening.
I went there today. I needed a replacement watch band and while the store owner was looking through the large collection of replacement bands (I asked him for one that was the most similar to my broken one), I kept wondering when the dog would come out. The owner found the right band and I asked him if he would install it for me. He said, “Sure” and took it back to the workplace to get it installed.
He then came out with it all set and said, “Put it on to see if it fits.” I put the watch on, everything was perfect. I pulled out my wallet and I couldn’t help but say, “I miss having the pleasure of your dog come out and greeting me!” He said, “Ah, yes, well he is sleeping peacefully, he is being Mr. Lazy this morning.”
As he was running my credit card, I said, “It is so comfortable to have an animal with you when you work. There is a bookstore I know in another town where the owner has a cat that has the run of the store and her customers love petting the cat when they come to buy books.
He said, “Everybody loved coming in here and enjoyed seeing my dog…except the mailman. He told me that he didn’t like dogs. The next thing I knew, without any warning, he stopped delivering my mail. I just wasn’t getting any for several days, so finally I called the post office and they told me that due to regulation bla bla bla, they don’t have to deliver mail if there is something dangerous there.”
I said, “Dangerous? Dogs and mailmen, classic enemies…but your dog was no trouble at all! Very sweet and quiet!”
“I know it,” the owner said. “Everybody loved seeing my dog. But now I had to fill out an affidavit swearing that I would not allow the dog out where it would be a danger to the mail carrier, or else they would refuse to deliver my mail.”
I was flabbergasted at the unreasonableness of it…he didn’t have a Pit Bull or a Rottweiler or a pair of Dobermen Pincers, his dog was no more dangerous than a stuffed teddy bear.
I said, “These days it is the lowest people taking advantage of some miniscule power that they can grab to hurt other people.”
As I said this, he nodded and looked at me very pointedly. He said, “Speak of the devil…” At first I didn’t get what he was doing, but he nodded his head toward the door and once again said, “Speak of the devil.” I looked and saw a mailman coming in with some mail for the owner. Apparently THE mailman. As the mailman handed him some mail, the owner’s eyes were boring through me as if he wanted to pin shut anything that might come out of my mouth. I wasn’t about to say anything to the mailman, I only smiled at him and said to the owner, “Thank you so much, this watch band fits perfectly!” Then I turned and as I went out the door, I said, “You always have the things I need, I will see you next time.”
I got in my car and the mailman got into his vehicle and he was out of the parking lot before I was. No, I am not the type of person who would have put my two scents into the issue. I do know some who would, though. They would berate the mailman for his lack of sensitivity etc., making things worse.
I am glad that the owner at least got to still have his dog back there where he worked. But we all were harmed somewhat by this. Yet another sweet pleasure was taken away from us due to the meanness of people who insist they are victims, but really are so weak that the drug they are on is taking away the pleasures of other people.
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