Everyone is over-scheduled
I’ve met many really neat people through Lilly. There are several with whom I’d love to enjoy a more social relationship. But, here the catch. Most are too busy training and trialing to ever accept an invite. And it’s hard to be buddies with people who can’t seem to squeeze you in … ever. Or, who almost never answer their phones. So, while all this training builds canine relationships (or at least strives to), I’m beginning to think it just might hamper human relationships, except in situations where everyone is at a dog event anyway.
I used to believe that most of my friends loved dogs. These days, I’m realizing that many of the people I know might like dogs OK, but they don’t have them, or they don’t engage them in the same way I do mine. I was at a party recently and heard a friend of a friend say that she simply didn’t like dogs. She wished she did, but she doesn’t. In fact, she kinda hates them.
I about fell off my chair.
I felt like a stranger in a strange land.
Hence the desire to spend time with more handler-minded people. Except … well, they’re just too darn busy. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve planned a little get-together and thought I’d love to see so-and-so, but after checking the regional schedule of dog events, I realized they were likely already booked for whatever date I had in mind.
It’s not unusual for calls or emails to dog friends to go unanswered for several days or even a week or more. Everyone is simply over-scheduled.
Maybe I’m romanticizing the whole thing to assume the
dog commonality can become a multi-dimensional friendship, leading to
fun dog and non-dog outings. I hope not.
For now, I worry that I’m destined to be *that* person in most of my social circles — That’s Rox. Whatever you do … don’t ask about her dogs.