I’LL WALK THE DOG
This morning I did not have an interview; however, I did take the dog for a walk. She needed to rid herself of what may have built up inside her since the last time she went #1 or #2. I’m just glad that I didn’t #2 my pants because of what I saw this morning. Bare and bear with me as I explain…
I made my way to the grassy area. Walking casually with the dog and listening to my Audible (introduction to “Learn Spanish: Self-Study Audible Course” which is not at all important to the story). I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. First, it was the feet, then it was where and how those feet were positioned. After my super-sonic brain wave processing activated, it sent the message from my eyeballs to my thoughts. That’s a real body attached to those feet. Although, that body lay super-sonic still. It didn’t move, but I sure did. I made a cross-over U-turn across the street to the other sidewalk.
GET TO SAFETY
Only when I got to safety on the other side of the street, I paused and turned to looked again. I wanted to make certain I saw what I saw. I also wanted to verify if there had been any movement. There wasn’t. It was still as still as when those feet first caught my eyes. So, what do we do when we see something we’ve never seen before? You guessed it! I took a zoom picture of the sight to again verify if I saw what I saw. I DID!
IT’S A BODY!
I turned back in the direction of our house; because, of course, I’ve got to tell the Hubs. I think, for a moment, I should call 9-1-1 because THERE IS A BODY ON THE GROUND! My immediate second thought is “no, I’ll go tell the Hubs, he’ll know what to do.” I return to the house in record time. Winnie did not get a chance to do her thing. I excuse myself into the Hubs office to show him the picture I took. At first, I couldn’t produce the words to describe what I saw. He looks and questions “is that a snake?” My reply, “NO, IT’S A BODY!” Without any change in his demeaner (because he’s the Hubs and is also a firefighter) he asks, “did you call 9-1-1?” I said “No, should I?” He thought so.
CALL 9-1-1
I proceed to call 9-1-1 (my brain is now talking to me with “is this really an emergency,” “should I be the one to call,” “I don’t need help,” and “what do I tell them”), and the DISPATCHER asks, “what is your emergency?” Me: I.. I.. uhm, I don’t know if this is an emergency, uhm.” She interrupts and asks for my address. Me: Well, uhm, it’s not here, uhm, I saw a person, I don’t know if it’s an emergency…” blah, blah… Rob interrupts and suggests “give them your address.” OK FOLKS, I FROZE. The Hubs takes the phone and finishes the conversation with the dispatcher.
They said they would send someone over.
SUPPORT SYSTEM
The Hubs takes a morning break and walks back down there with me, and the dog (because she still has to go #1 and/or #2). He sees the body, and steadily continues to walk. (EVEN THOUGH I SUGGESTED WE CROSS THE STREET AND WALK PAST FROM THE OTHER SIDE) I follow him. By this time the body has moved positions and is now prone with face staring and the earth. SIGH OF RELIEF… it is not a dead body!
Winnie does her thing, and we begin our return to our home (on the other side of the street… because, eventually, the Hubs will listen to me). We’re both looking in the same area where the body was laying. Neither of us saw the body. It was gone. SO NOW WE HAVE A ZOMBIE IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD! Well, perhaps that is an exaggeration. We can only presume that the person who was napping on the ground got up and went into a nearby house. OK NOW I’m THINKING MAYBE THERE WAS SOME EMBIBING THE NIGHT BEFORE. Geeze, I remember those days. (we won’t talk about that now; another time, another place)
SITUATION ANALYZER OR CRITIQUER?
The post-incident discussion (because I’m a situation analyzer, and he is a situation critiquer) included the fact that “I FAILED THE JOB INTERVIEW.” A while back when I thought I wanted to work outside the home, I submitted my resume to the local sheriff’s department (when Ted Holder was the sheriff) for a 9-1-1 dispatcher position. I got a reply that described the position as also involving dealing with their clientele… Uhm, I promptly replied a withdrawal of my resume because -no-. The Hubs remembered this and said (with a slight hint of a laugh) “and you thought you wanted to be a dispatcher, you just failed the interview.”
I said “what!” … and then I thought about it. While I’ve added more skills to my life toolbox, I am aware that I didn’t go into panic mode (fight); instead, I went into hypo-vigilant mode (freeze), I guess. This is an example of how I process and absorb seeing something out of the ordinary. Did I actually see what I saw? Do I believe that I saw something? How is my body responding to what I saw? How do I feel about what I saw? Processing and absorbing. Then, do I need, should, or could do something about it? Honestly, I think my brain was still on that picture of the body and on the visual Winnie and I walked upon (Winnie handled it perfectly by the way).
WE’LL BE OK
It is easy to think that I may be putting too much into this brief encounter. And you may be correct, correct in how you would respond to the situation. As for me, this is how I am wired. Believe me, it is an improvement since the days of living hyper-vigilantly on the daily. The point is that some folks may need a little bit more time processing things than others. Our life experiences dictate how we may react/respond.
That is why I am always reading, practicing, learning, all to add to my toolbox so I can re-calibrate my mind, body, and soul. I didn’t overreact, I didn’t under react, I could have used my words better instead of being stuck in seeing that body. I’m glad that person is not dead and was able to get up and return to whereever he belongs. I am ok and I will absorb this brief encounter. Soon that picture I took will be a distant memory. I don’t know if the Hubs was right about me failing the job interview, but I don’t think I failed at human kindness. If that were me on the ground, I would want someone to make sure I was ok.
Take Good Care