Dock Dogs and Judging People

His brown eyes can see the many trophies and awards he has won. He has been called the "Michael Jordan" of his sport. He has won 3 national championships and set world records. He is a dog named Spitfire. One of those fancy, schmantzy dogs at Westminster Kennel Club in New York with the funny haircuts? No. Holy record holder, what is he? He is a whippet who can jump higher, jump more distance, and retrieve faster than another other dog. He can go from a perfectly still standing position to 35 miles per hour in a heartbeat. Originally bred as rabbit chasers, his breed, whippets are long and lean, and Spitfire is just that. Of the 1000 dock diving contests held annually, Spitfire can win any that he chooses to enter. He can be in the air straight up for 22 feet and grab a toy hanging suspended above a pool faster than any other dog. He can run straight ahead for 26 feet and grab a toy faster than any other dog. He is amazing although he sits by his teenager handler and does not make a move until she tells him to go.

Back in 1970(okay, I know I'm old) one of my Tech students got the chance to be an intern at Neiman-Marcus in Dallas for the summer. She was so excited because she would get to see how a big business ran, and her major was marketing. The office staff was very kind to her and gave her all sorts of tips. One of her supervisors told her that it would be a good idea if she worked on the main floor a couple of mornings in different departments to see how they worked together so smoothly. She liked doing that, and she found herself one morning in the perfume department with all the very expensive perfumes. There were no knock-offs in those days. As she watched customers come in, one lady approached her counter that made the intern cringe. The lady was wearing the worst looking dress you can imagine, shoes that were sloppy and worn through, a hat that had been knitted long ago, and some gloves that were the wrong color. My intern didn't want to offend the lady, but she knew from looking at her that she couldn't even afford the stopper that went in the perfume bottle. The lady sprayed some of the perfume on her wrist and seemed to be trying to decide if she wanted it. "How sad," my intern thought, "that she has to dream what it would be like to have this kind of extra thing."

At that moment the elevator opened, and Stanley Marcus, one of the owners of the company came out on the floor. He started to go one direction and then spied the lady at the perfume counter. "Oh no," my intern thought. "Maybe he thinks I should have tried to help her leave before she was disappointed or maybe dissolved into tears because she couldn't afford it." Instead, he broke into a big smile and walked quickly to the woman. "Eleanor, my dear, how wonderful to see you! It's been too long, and we've all missed you. I hope you've been well." He wrapped her in a hug and kept his arm around her and the shabby dress as they strolled along the walkway of the store.

In 1868 Andrew Johnson, a one term racist president who tore up the reconstruction plans that Lincoln had proposed before his assassination, was ignored by his party because of the scandals associated with him. But he tried to make an election out of it and was furious that U.S. Grant had been nominated against him. Grant had no political background like Johnson did, was very blunt, said what he thought, and remarked that Johnson was a worthless president. Of course, Johnson said, there is no way people will vote for this person and was shocked when Grant won easily. Johnson did all he could to tarnish Grant's reputation and refused to go to the inauguration in 1869 even though his Cabinet members urged him to do so in the spirit of peace for the country. After Grant's inauguration, Johnson continued to write letters to newspapers saying that this 46-year-old president would be terrible and that people would beg for him(Johnson) to come back as president. Grant, who had run reluctantly since he had no political life, tried to get amnesty for Confederate leaders to help the south heal(it failed), pushed for women's rights before any political leader even used the words, tried to get civil rights for slaves(it failed), made some excellent economic policies and all in all was a good president for 2 terms with some ideas far past what people had expected. After all, he was the youngest president that had ever been and didn't look like he had the political ability to make wise choices.

We all do that at some point in our lives: judge a situation, a person, a dog by what it may look like on the outside. But we learn, sometimes through a pained experience, that giving something or someone a closer look will make us a much wiser individual and make the world that much better.