13 Aug Dog Days
I am Ruth, auxiliary Dog at Work. See me above with Edgar, enjoying an August Dog Day. With a respectful nod to Sirius and the ancient calendar, I must say that to us dogs, the meaning of the term Dog Days is simple. We’re going to the beach!
Being on vacation is great, but there are challenges. It seems that I am expected to maintain the same standard of communication behavior on vacation as at home. This can be hard. Many situations in the vacation environment cry out for a more assertive presentation. Consider these common vacation provocations:
– Inconvenience- There are still people on the beach so we have to wait before we can go for the evening walk.
– Other Annoying Vacationers- Those same two terriers walk down our street every day!
– Uncertainty – Will our tennis balls still be there?
– The Unexpected – Rabbits in the garden!
– The Unfamiliar – Sand! Waves! The shower!
It’s hard to avoid, really. I think there are others who have the occasional vacation voice – snapping and snarling in the face of things that are different, don’t you?
I’m glad to have the Language at Work team to remind me that snarky communication is tiresome and tiring. So let’s pack a little patience, and put some pretty back in our patter.
We don’t want to give those Dog Days a bad name.