I was invited to a
Christmas party being held by the aunt of a friend. My boyfriend and I arrived, and we were introduced to various
family members, as well as two
beige dogs - one medium, one
small. I am generally more social with animals than I am with people, so I politely introduced myself, then sat down to socialize with
Friday (the medium dog) and Duncan (the small dog, who had
catfishy whiskers).
My boyfriend and I sat and chatted with our friend Mike, while I provided a constant stream of attention to Friday the dog. After about 15 minutes, the dog left in search of
Milk Bones or whatever, and I looked at my hands. They were covered in a grimy sort of dry film... and I suspected that they stank. I was right. I got up to wash my hands, and wondered why the family hadn't taken the time to
wash the dog. Not all dogs leave that
stinky horsey dirt stuck to your palms.
That brought me to another thought: maybe the dog had not been petted often enough (or for a long enough duration) for the family to
realize that it was as dirty as a wild horse. It was a happy dog, and had a good
grin, I guess it just hadn't been bathed in a (long) while.
That annoyed me for some reason, because the house was
impeccable. Expensive paintings and
ceramic figurines were carefully placed on coffee tables, and dessert trays were arranged with
detail.
I'd have washed the dog and skipped the frosting.