Pogo

Today was just one of those days. I overslept this morning and had a ton of work to do for a 3:00 presentation. I had paper jams, printers not found, software freezes, hardware sneezes, you name it. Despite all of the madness, I managed to get everything in order and was headed out the door when I couldn't find my damn car keys. I searched high and low for 15 minutes before I found 'em. All of this seemed to indicate that the stars were stacked against me. I really hate days like that.

As I was cursing under my breath and speeding across town on Sunrise Way (a 4 lane road with a 45mph limit), suddenly a little cocker spaniel darted out into the road and came within inches of someone's tires. Everyone screeched to a halt and I opened the car door, gave a little whistle and low and behold the bugger came right to me and jumped in the car.

I pulled over and contemplated my next move. Now what was I going to do? I had 4 (four!) minutes until my meeting and a wet scared pup lapping at my face. And so much for my clean sweater...

So I did what any of you would have done and tossed her back out on the sidewalk.

Aw, c'mon! You all know me better than that! Of course, I only had one option. I took her with me!

Now here's something you only learn by experience. But I'll pass this nugget along because ya never know when it's going to come in handy. If you're nervous about not being prepared or that the client might not like what you've got - take a cute little dog with you and explain to them how you just rescued her from certain death! Worked like a charm.

After the meeting it was time to deal with the issue at hand and locate Pogo's owner. I tried calling the number on the collar, but got no answer. Seeing a license on her, I took a swing by Animal Control to see if they had a record, but they had just closed. So I brought her home and tried the number again.

A very out of breath and somewhat frightened sounding older man answered. Turns out he's 95 years old, widowed twice and this little pooch is his whole world.

I happily reunited the two just a bit ago. Pogo seemed very happy to be home and Mr. K was on the verge of tears with gratitude. I love happy endings, don't you?

Today turned out to be a pretty darn good day after all. Thanks Pogo. I'm glad we were there for each other.