Destroyer of Souls

You might wonder by the title of this post whether I am talking about Jam or myself.  Well, rest assured, the sweet little Jam boy is not the destroyer of souls.  No, that designation goes to me.  I alone carry the power to crush joy from the hearts of men, women and small, little blonde girls.

Take last night for instance...

Michele and I were planning on attending the regional finals game of the boys baseball team (we ended up losing 6-1, boo! but it wasn't a shut out!).  We decided to go to dinner together to Seasons 52 before the game started.  I've started the South Beach diet and I'm in that irritating two week beginner phase where you can't have anything that tastes good or has a starch or sugar calorie in it.  I might as well have tasty veggies if veggies are all I can have!  So Seasons 52 it is. 

It was a little bit tense as Jam had his dinner at 4 and still hadn't had a poo and Seasons 52 is a little posh.    I was pretty confident that he wouldn't hunch over in the restaurant as we gave him ample opportunity outside to go.

Inside the hostess said there was a regular customer who has a Southeastern puppy who was much smaller/younger than Jam and they loved the puppies there.  (Yea!) We've taken Jam there several times and they've always been super nice.  

Jam's new thing is to position himself at the very front of the booth so that he can watch the traffic back and forth.  Sort of a watchdog thing.  He's checking everyone out.  So, he was the one to first see the lady approach our table, but he didn't get up.  He did move his head, which alerted me that something was up and I turned to see her making her way gingerly towards us.

Now there are generally two sorts of people who approach you with intent:

1. Zombie hands: These are the people who are not going to ask, they just have their hands and arms outstretched like lifeless zombies lurching towards you ready to grab your guide dog puppy in training and pat him no matter what the rules are.
2. Blurters or Oversharers: They are the ones who are approaching you, but not sure, might turn away, don't want to bother you, but are so drawn to the puppy that they ultimately can't help themselves and finally, just come out and share with you things that may or may not relate to the puppy, but occured to them and they had to share it with you.

This nice lady was an oversharer.  She approached as if walking a tightrope with her hands held out for balance and said, "He's working isn't he?  I can't pet him."

Then she looked up at me.  She had been staring at Jam the whole walk over.  Jam was looking back at her calmly.  I smiled, kindly (I hoped), "No.  I'm so sorry, but when the coat is on he is on duty and can't be petted."

"I knew that." She stared at Jam.  Then began to share: "We have a yellow lab.  They are such wonderful dogs."

"Yes, they are.  They are the best dogs."  I think this puppy raiser gig is part counselor to the public sometimes.

She sighed.  "He's beautiful."

We all returned to dinner and about five minutes later, Michele said, "Uh, oh.  Husband approaching."

I turned to find myself staring at a cellphone with the photo of a yellow lab who looked remarkably like Jam sitting by the side of a pool. "Wow.  That dog does look like Jam." I said.  The man beamed at me.

"I know!"  Then, having shared his photo, he went back to his dinner.

Jam sitting on the seatwell of the golfcart with Michele in the driver's seat.

 When we got to school, we decided to take the golf cart to the baseball field.  Jam got to experience Michele's driving. It made him a little nervous, but he got over it and settled down.
 Once we got to the game I put his jacket back on as I didn't want people coming up and petting him all night.  That's when I had to destroy a soul or two.

 For Jam was the only dog at the game.  And he was mighty attractive.  And just like at the Tampa Prep baseball game we went to, there were lots of small children running around.  Only this time, their parents seemed to have run off and left them to fend for themselves.  So when a small, blonde 4-5 year old girl ran up out of the blue and patted Jam on the head both Jam and I were a little taken aback.  Where did this small child come from?  Who did she belong to?  Where were her parents?

I'm thinking: Can I give them the "Look at the coat" look and then I don't have to be the destroyer of souls or am I actually going to have to do it?  Will she come back?  Perhaps it was a one off.

Jam looking at the Bucs standing out on the pitcher's mound getting instructions.

But no.  Here she comes.  She rushes up and she's a zombie hand.  I take her hand and say in my nicest voice, "Sweetie, I'm so sorry, but did you know, that when this puppy is wearing his blue coat, no one can pet him?  He's working?"

And her adorable little face just falls into despair.  I am officially the worst person in the world.  She says nothing but turns and runs away and never comes back.

Is there a counselor out there for me? Destroyer of souls is a heavy burden to bear.

Long Day Into Night

Friday was one long day of exposures for Jam.  It all began with a local library conference that was held in our lower division library (photos forth coming as I don't have the connecting wire to download from a Nikon camera GRRR, but I have other things to post and I don't want to delay this.).  

Jam was very good throughout my presentation, staying mostly under the table and not snoring too loudly.  Most of the librarians already knew about Jam, but there were a few who needed the Harry Potter speech.  Jam did a little bit of jumping up, but I did some quick corrections and walked him away from big groups.  The key thing for me is that I can't greet anyone effusively.  If I want to go give someone a hug hello, Jam is going to jump up and hug them as well. Lesson: I can't hug anyone with Jam because he's not going to be left out of the greeting party.  So as long as I was pleasant and a bit distant with my greetings and stayed back from people, we were fine.  Jam was calm.  We even went through the buffet line with no problem.  Well, only one problem.

The gal in front of me was getting some pasta salad for her plate and dropped a pasta shell on the floor.  She laughed and looked at me and said, "I guess he can get that."

"Nope.  He can't have any people food."  I have Jam on sit stay and he is staring daggers at the pasta shell.

I think she made a small eeeek sound.  She immediately bent down to get the offending shell. Librarians are such nice people. I love what I do and who I work with.

After school Fred and I decided to go car shopping.  I am looking to trade in my Prius and get something new.  So went to Sun Toyota to try the Prius V. Now, I am sure that the last thing a car salesman wants to see is a big white fluffy, SHEDDING dog get out of someone's car, put on a service dog coat and then start walking around their lot.  That means that not only is that dog going to be able to come into the showroom, but that dog gets to RIDE IN THEIR CARS.  And how much time is going to be spent vacuuming every car after these people leave?

To Sun's Toyota's credit no one said a single word to us about Jam.  It was if he actually did have Harry Potter's cloak of invisibility.  He just didn't exist in their world.  It was quite extraordinary.  When it came time to go see some cars and possibly take a test drive, we had to get in a golf cart.

Woot! Golf cart exposure for Jam.

Photo of Jam looking out the golf cart's front windscreen.  You see the back of Jam's head.

Our salesman Ron just scooted over and made room for Jam in the front seat. I noticed that he drove super slow as if afraid that Jam would suddenly make a break for it and leap out of the golf cart, dragging me to my death and making Ron an accessory to murder.  But Jam wasn't going anywhere.  He was in the middle and staying put.  He had great view and I had him trapped on the outside.

Turns out, I wasn't going to actually put Jam in the Prius as we have had two Prius cars and know exactly how they drive, but it was great that Ron had no hesitation about it.  He was very nice and helpful.

After that it was time for dinner (Jam had his dinner much earlier). Sun Toyota is WAY up North, so we stopped at our favorite Greek restaurant Mykonos on the way back.  When we walked in the hostess/waitress asked us for our guide dog ID (which we always carry), so I took it out and showed it to her.  That was the first time that had ever happened to us.  After looking at it, she smiled and asked if we preferred a booth or a table.  We selected a booth at the back.

Photo of Jam completely asleep on Fred's foot underneath the booth at Mykonos.

I was a little worried after asking for ID that there would be some residual irritation or dislike regarding Jam, but I have to say, there was nothing but smiles and good service.  The chef even walked by and asked where the dog was.  Jam, of course, stayed silent and for the most part motionless, under the table. He had had such an active day that he fell fast asleep.  First on my foot, then on Fred's.

The food was so good, nothing fell to the floor!