POLING: New co-worker’s bark worse than her bite

Published 12:16 pm Sunday, April 19, 2020

My new co-worker doesn’t say much but she sure is demanding.

She demands I open the door for her before she will pass through it. She trots outside then rolls around in the grass. And sometimes, she even uses the bathroom right outside in front of everybody.

Strange behavior from a co-worker.

Then, she expects the company to feed her. Well, that wouldn’t be much different than a pizza party at my old office.

But here in the new office, the makeshift one at the picnic table on my back porch since The Valdosta Daily Times closed the North Troup Street headquarters a month ago, she is my only co-worker.

Nina. My family dog.

We’ve had Nina for many years. She and I have not always been best pals. When younger, she liked to dig holes in the backyard. Holes that often tripped me while mowing the grass.

She goes through spells of waking up at 3 or 4 in the morning for several nights running, barking, wanting outside. For some reason, even though she’s “officially” one of my son’s dog, I’m the one who seems to hear Nina in the middle of the night.

She finds a way out of the back fence and I chase after her. She and I have both nearly been hit by cars during these pursuits that often have me running through the neighborhood in pajama pants and flip-flops.

But since this new normal of the home being the office and the office being home, Nina and I have become good buddies. 

She sits on the back porch while I work. Or she barks at people walking along the street. Or she stretches out on the grass in the sun. 

Or she sits and surveys the backyard and the neighborhood. She has a look of far more wisdom than an animal I have occasionally called “stupid dog” under my breath especially when she repeatedly has outsmarted me by escaping from the backyard. “Stupid me” is what I should say.

She doesn’t complain if I smoke a cigar while at the back porch office. Of course, I bribe her with my last bite of sandwich. 

Some times, I have to yell for her to stop barking but I’m appreciative that she thinks enough of her territory and me to let me know someone is walking by.

She listens to me read her things I’ve written or things the reporters have written. She rarely offers a critical sound which may not be helpful but is appreciated.

But mostly I appreciate the moments when I stop working and look out the porch and see her rolling in the grass or chasing after a squirrel or lapping at a rain puddle or sitting with that wise look with the sun warming her fur while a breeze lifts the flaps of her ears.

There is a wisdom there. Be part of the moment, feel the sunshine, enjoy the breeze … OK, maybe not roll in the grass, but get up, stretch, move. 

This may be the new office but it’s still home. 

Don’t forget to relax and breathe. Don’t forget that home is more than work.

And, though we miss our human colleagues — well, most of them — man, I wonder if our pets will miss us as much as we will likely miss them when this home-office era ends?

Don’t tell HR but maybe I can sneak Nina into my newspaper office when the time comes. She’s pretty quiet though she’s pretty demanding about wanting outside. And, now, I know why.

Dean Poling is an editor with The Valdosta Daily Times.