Short Stories

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In My Chair
I opened up my car door-a Nissan Sentra SE at the time, and some documents took a nice flight across the yard. As I chased down various items, I determined that I would have to clean the interior of my car.

Basically, I am a pretty clean person. But, sometimes life gets in the way. After a 1200 mile move, several things had started to accumulate: maps for the local area, resumes for job hunting, reference documents, addresses and work samples started to add up pretty quick. It was clear, the time had come. So, I gathered a garbage bag and the vacuum and set out to complete the mundane task on a bright weekend afternoon.

But, I had company. An old college friend and her husband graciously allowed me to crash until I could set up my own place. Oh, no. My friends weren�t there. Instead, I had the pleasure of dog sitting while their abnormally large boxer named Casey alternately barked at the vacuum and chased after some escaping documents.

Sometimes, life can be good.

But not always.
On this day, I decided to keep all of the car doors open while I was cleaning out the trunk. When I moved my way up to the side of the car again, I discovered Casey in the front seat. I have to admit, he looked really cute! But that wasn�t the problem, Casey liked to drive or rather, he liked to be driven around in the car. In fact, he had a habit of jumping into the car and my college friend would have to take him for a ride around the block before she could leave for work. Of course, he normally would not sit in the driver�s seat, but in the passengers. Today, he chose to sit in my chair.
So, I nudged him to move to the passenger�s seat but being abnormally large, he looked me in the eye, �woofed� a bit, and grew anxious when we did not start moving. Um, how do you tell a dog that you can�t do what he wants you to do if he is seating in the chair that you need to do it in? So, I nudged him again and he actually nipped at me! That was it. Of course, a rather disconcerting moment ensued when it was not clear whether or not certain parts of my body would remain intact. But eventually, he gave into reason and he was sent into his cage.

I felt horrible. The dog could not possibly understand why he was sent into his cage or why he did not get a ride. He gave me one of those �woofs� that in translation, resembled something like �blow it out your ear�. As a result, I waited about ten minutes to figure out how this one was going to play out.

Clearly, he should not have been in my chair and by doing so, he prevented me from accomplishing the very thing that he wanted. But, he�s a dog and I forgave him. We made up and I sat in the drivers seat, opened the passenger door, and then let him hop in for a quick cruise. Problem solved.

Yet, it got me thinking, how many people are in my chair keeping me from doing what only I can do in that same position? What could I do if they would only move out of my chair when I gently nudge them? And then the other thought occurred to me. One that also resembled the last �woof� from Casey in translation. Is anyone gently nudging me because I am in their chair?
I guess that is a good question for all of us to ask. And hey, I learned that from a dog so maybe there is hope for humanity.

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