puppy love

I am taking Kismet on a walk and we don’t get very far, very fast since so many people stop and ask to pet her.

We are walking down this one block, when she stops to stare at some pigeons strutting on the street. Then I hear “That’s a beautiful dog you have”.

I look over and there is a homeless person sitting there panhandling, I acknowledge his compliment with a smile and refocus my attention back to Kismet.

When she is done with the pigeons she walks over to the homeless guy who reaches out to pet her, she moves in closer and I let it happen.

Then in a split second I am aware that “I let this moment happen” as I didn’t feel that he was going to harm her, I didn’t judge him for the circumstances he was in.

I realized that I could have pulled her away, out of his reach and denied him this moment of connection.

Yes... Unfortunately, I do believe that many people would have done just that. But why?

What makes the clean, well dressed person who says “That’s a beautiful dog you have” more acceptable to be permitted to pet your dog, than the homeless person who says exactly the same thing?

What makes the homeless person less deserving of connection?
What makes them less human?
Who are we to judge?

I came back from my moment of reflection, look down at the two of them, the homeless guy looks at me, smiles and says “Thank you”.

We continue our walk and I think about this quote I read last week:

Dogs are born knowing how to love in a way that humans take a lifetime to learn.

Kismet has only been alive for three months, but I am starting to believe that this statement is true.

#chasingbutterflies