Unexpected Advice

The Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams was playing in the worn-down bar, though Kathy thought the place had a certain charm. She was dancing unabashedly on the empty floor, seemingly the only one with any steam to vent. The lonely figures of men were sitting at the bar, occupying otherwise empty tables, it should have been a quiet night.

But Kathy wasn’t thinking about them. She was waiting for something to happen. Something was bound to happen. After all, today had been a day of such drastic change, she could see no signs of it letting up.

She had been fired from her job at the cafeteria for being too slow making people’s lattes. And then her boyfriend had dumped her over the phone while she was catching the train home. And then her cat had gone missing. What else could possibly go wrong? Or maybe something was about to go right.

She had been a wreck for the first couple of hours at home. The weight of these burdens dragged her down to the lowest circles of depression. But then a strange feeling had come over her. Maybe this wasn’t the end, it was just the beginning. She would embrace these changes, and found herself excited to see what life had in store. She had left her apartment at 7pm, walking without an umbrella, in the rain, to the local tavern. After 1 long island ice tea, she found some space, and began to dance.

After some time, one of the men at the bar turned to her. ‘Darling, are you okay?’

‘I’m doing great!’ Came her enthusiastic reply.

The man regarded her with a stare that seemed to say, I can’t decide whether to envy you or pity you. She ignored him. The next track came on, Madonna, ray of light. As she twirled and grooved, she realized she had never truly appreciated this song until now.

More people shuffled into the bar, all relieved to be getting out of the rain. The bartenders began to pick up the pace, assertively moving from one customer to the next, taking orders and pouring beers.

A couple moved into the space where she was dancing, and began to sway to the music. And then over the course of 10 minutes, more people began to join her. She was happy with this development, but knew this was a false sign, whatever change was coming, it had not manifested itself yet.

Then something curious happened. She saw a golden retriever walking in the bar, trailing behind a group of businessmen that had opened the door. It was looking in her direction, and made its way slowly to the edge of the dance floor, before sitting, and regarding her with a curious, grave, head tilting expression. She tried to ignore it, but she simply could not take her eyes off it. What happened next was even stranger.

‘Kathy, get off the dance floor, what are you doing?’ Came the golden retriever’s soulful voice.

She looked around nervously, but nobody else seemed to have noticed this strange occurrence.

The dog spoke again. ‘You’re only harming yourself by being this way, come, sit with me at that table in the corner over there.’

Grudgingly, she decided to take the dogs advice. ‘Fine. I’ll listen to you, meet me at the corner table.’ She said glumly.

She went to the bar, and ordered a wagyu hamburger, and a beer, before making her way to the table with the buzzer for her meal.

‘Well, you rained on my parade.’ She said, taking a swig of the beer.

The dog continued to regard her sombrely. ‘A parade is certainly what that was, a shameful parade of embarrassment and disgrace.’

She was stung by its words. ‘Listen, you don’t have the slightest idea what I’ve been through today.’

The dog stared into her eyes. ‘You were fired, you were dumped, you lost your cat?’

‘How do you know all this? And while we’re in the moment, and I’m asking you questions, why are you talking to me? How can a dog talk? She said defensively.

‘All you need to know, is that I’m here to help.’ Offered the dog.

Just then there was a buzzing sound. The hamburger was ready. The dog began to wag its tail.

’Just wait here, I got you something.’ Snapped Kathy.

‘I’ll be a good boy.’ Replied the dog.

She pushed through the now packed dance floor, feeling irritated that just when things were livening up this dog had interrupted her, and made her way to edge of the kitchen, where the burger was waiting for her to be picked up. Within a few moments she was back at the unobtrusive table in the corner of the bar, where her canine interlocutor was waiting.

Setting the burger down in front of the dog, he instantly began to tuck into it, wagging his tail all the more.

‘So how are you going to help me anyway.’ She said sceptically.

The dog stopped eating for a moment. ‘It’s true that a lot of bad things have happened to you tonight, and were going to put our heads together and find a way through this, but cutting loose and dancing is not going to be one of our solutions. Just let me finish this delicious burger, and then I’ll get started.’

She shrugged. ‘Go for it.’

The dog was clearly enjoying the meal, and like all dogs, he was wolfing it down fast like he was in a race and going for first prize. Eventually he finished, and looked back at her, still wagging his tail.

‘Thank you.’ He said heartily.

She nodded.

He continued. ‘So, let’s look at each problem on its own, and figure out what you can do about it. First of all, you lost your job, right?

‘Bingo.’ She exclaimed.

‘Maybe it’s time you thought of doing something with more of a future in it, than making coffee.’ He continued.

‘Oh of course. Amazing. Why didn’t I think of that.’ She sniggered.

The dog was unperturbed. ‘You could take some time out as a full-time student, learn some new skills.’

She frowned. ‘And rack up a student debt? I don’t know. You know I don’t have any ideas of what I would do anyway. I just want to pay my way through life and not have to rely on anyone’s help.’

‘Well, if that’s your goal’ – Said the dog, – ‘You would have a much better chance of sticking to the plan if you actually embarked on a career. You might have noticed; you don’t see many baristas above a certain age.’

He continued. ‘You know what, I’m going to pick something for you. Why don’t you study Business. And in the meantime, you can find work as a receptionist.’

‘Straight to it huh?’ She said flatly. ‘I don’t know, I could do that, but what about my second problem?’

‘That’s right. Your boyfriend left you.’ Said the dog, looking her sympathetically in the eyes. ‘For this issue, my advice is that you need to learn to be on your own for a while, instead of always searching to be validated by a partner. This will also help you focus on your studies.’

‘You’ve got all the answers.’ She muttered. ‘And what about my cat?’

The dog wagged his tail. ‘It’s been one day, sleep on it. Your cat will come back to you. In fact, I’m going to find him myself and chase him all the way back to your place.’

She laughed. ‘I guess that would get him to think twice about abandoning me.’

There was a silence between the two of them, which the ambience of the bar began to fill. She looked around, focusing momentarily on the dance floor. Everyone was dancing in groups of two or three. She had been the only person dancing alone. She sighed. Maybe the dog had been right after all. Looking back at the dog, she began to pet him on the head. His fur was wispy and soft.

He addressed her again. ‘Well, Kathy, this is where our time ends. Now you go home and think about everything I said. Just follow my directions, and you’ll be through this rough patch of your life without ever looking back.’

‘You gonna walk me out?’ She asked him.

The dog whined. Perhaps the spell was wearing off. She got off her chair, as did the dog, and found the exit to the bar. The rain had stopped, which she was happy about. Looking down, she saw the dog was looking at her with its doleful eyes. She gave it one last pat, before it trotted off in the opposite direction to which she had to go. 

She would go home and hope tomorrow would be better, and she felt hopeful that the advice she had been given would work. Something told her she would not be seeing that dog again.