This is the second and last post about how just one action can change a persons whole day.
I was awoken by my dog Rocky at 7am this morning. There was no way I was moving until 8am at least. Luckily Rocky decided to go back to bed. It got to 7.50 and Rocky decided to try and get me to take him out again. I got up, got dressed in my dog walking gear and made sure I was wrapped up warm as it was freezing outside. I decided to take Rocky on the car park of a shopping precinct just down the road from where I live, it's always quiet at that time in the morning so no need to worry about cars going back and too. Morning walks are always the quick walks then afternoon walks are longer.
As I approached the car park I saw something under the sign of one of the shops, as I got nearer I realised it was a duvet with a homeless guy and his dog under it. The man didn't move but the dog looked up and looked a bit aggressive so I walked a bit quicker to the middle of the car park to play fetch with Rocky. I threw the ball a couple of times but then decided to move on as I'd felt unnerved by the dog and his owner. I went a different way to the way I came as I really didn't fancy walking back the same way.
I got back home, fed Rocky and went about my day as I usually did. I was still feeling unnerved from the morning walk even when I was getting ready to go out to work at 1. I went to leave the house and get in my car but I couldn't find my keys. I looked for them until I finally found them in the living room. I totally forgot about the road works on my usual route to work and ended up getting stuck in traffic. I was on track to be late for work and was so stressed out. I somehow managed to get to work on time, just about. It seemed as though customers were asking daft questions all shift and the shift felt like it was 20 hours longer than it actually was. I knew I hadn't hit my target today.
On my way home close to the shopping precinct I saw a dog that looked very similar to the one I'd seen by the homeless guy earlier that day. It was walking slowly and looked wet and cold. I started feeling sorry for it and wondered what had happened to it's owner. The guilt fell upon me and I wondered if I could've missed the chance to save this dog's owners life and probably the dog's life. ''What if?'' I kept asking myself.
Now with these posts I'm not saying go up to complete strangers as and when, I'm saying spare a thought for those people in need. Also don't judge a book by it's cover, not everyone is the same and there's some people who are grateful for your help and how good that makes you feel knowing you've done what you can. Just a thought.
This post will be the first of two possibilities exploring how just one action made by a person can have a knock on effect to the rest of said person's day.
Saturday morning, I got up being awoken not by an alarm but by a dog wanting to be walked. It's Saturday, it was 7am, shouldn't I have a lie in at least until 8 o'clock? Never mind. My dog Rocky insisted we went for a walk right away, very important in the dog world. I got up, threw on my dog walking gear (pair of old jeans and a hoodie) and headed out. We didn't go too far just far enough to stretch Rocky's legs until the bigger walk later. I live only down the road from an outdoor shopping precinct so I usually take him on there for a run, it's quiet enough so we can walk on the car park without worrying about cars going back and too.
We approached the car park and I looked around just to be sure there were no cars when a dark figure caught my eye. It was just under one of the shop's signs, as we got closer I released it was a man wrapped up in a duvet with a dog right beside him under his own blanket. I felt sorry for this person and of course his faithful pet. The dog lifted his head having a good look at us, probably making sure we weren't going to harm his owner. Rocky and I carried on past this homeless person and went to play fetch for a little while until we decided to head back home for breakfast.
I couldn't stop thinking about the person under the blanket and how cold they must have been. It was mid January hardly shorts and t-shirt weather. Coming to think about it they didn't seem to move at all, I couldn't stop myself from wondering if he was still alive. I know there are thousands of homeless people dotted around everywhere and I have certainly passed a few in my years but this one seemed to stick in my head, I couldn't help but think how if I'd have spared some change he might get a drink and some food and potentially stay alive another day. I found an old flask that I didn't really need and filled it with nice hot tea and put a bit of Rocky's dog food in a bag and got some spare change together to go and take to the person later on that day.
I went back to the shopping precinct on my way to work about 1pm so the car park was so busy by this point. I found a space and walked to the homeless guy. I approached him and the dog cautiously and handed him the flask, dog food and the couple of pound I scraped together. He seemed reluctant to take it and kept saying ''it's yours'', needless to say I insisted and he took it. He was so grateful. I found the whole thing so uplifting, this guy had literally nothing but the love of his dog and he made sure I was 100% sure I wanted to part with these couple of things. I patted the dog on the head then shot off to work. I went the wrong way to work, I forgot about road works and ended up getting stuck in traffic but even so I couldn't help but smile and when I finally got to work I was in such a good mood going in, because even though yes my job is dull and boring, I felt like I'd really helped someone today and achieved something. Customers can tell when you're in a good mood as they seem to chat to you more etc.
I got home after the 4 hour shift, took Rocky for his long walk then settled down for the night watching films. Every time I thought back to the day's events I felt happy and pleased and I hoped the homeless guy found a shelter that could take him in.
The next post is the flip side of this same story. Check it out!
