This is a true story…I swear. I saw this with my own eyes!
One day I was entering a downtown subway station when all of a sudden a dog appeared out of no where. He walked to the subway entrance, went through the turn-style and down the stairs along side of me and the other commuters. The dog entered the subway train and stood by the entrance as the doors closed. No one said a word and no one tried to get rid of the dog. No train conductor tried to make the dog pay considering he didn’t use a token. The free loader!
The dog waited until the third stop and got off the train with this certain look that he knew where he was going. He never barked and he wasn’t a stray dog because he looked all clean and well-groomed. I couldn’t help but think he was on his way to a meeting considering how professional he was about the whole situation. He didn’t seem to think anything was out of the ordinary and I don’t believe that any other commuter even noticed, except for me. All of this made me wonder why no one noticed…are we so consumed with ourselves that to see a dog on a train without an owner is not worthy of a reaction?
Now in India this is not a big deal. Animals rule the roads…even busy downtown city roads. I have seen camels, elephants, monkeys, cows and so much more…wander freely in the city streets of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Agra, etc., and no one and I mean no one even dares considering the idea of roadkill…that would be really bad karma….really bad. So if it takes an hour for a snake to make it to the other side…well…you just have to wait. Can you imagine in the West telling your boss that you were late because a family of ducks took their leisurely time crossing the road? Your boss would probably send you for a psych evaluation.
Anyway…back to the doggie in the city who was on his way to a meeting or a hot date…who knows. When my stop came, I made my way up to the city streets and couldn’t help but think that more humans could learn from that doggie. He was polite, clean, never was rude and just went about his business with no care in the world. He just somehow knew that he would find his way.
{ 22 comments }
Hi Nadia,
This is really a nice story.Hard to believe but have to because you’ve eye witnessed. See those people who were on the train. They even couldn’t pay an attention or couldn’t feel the joy of seeing that doggie’s actions. Poor souls they might have jammed in their own businesses. I’m glad about you because you were simple and humble to enjoy the whole thing and to share it with your readers.
Thanks a lot for sharing and hats off to that Mr.Doggie
Hi Vikum,
You are so sweet…thank you for all the kind words. You are simple and humble too!
Have a great day!
Great story!
Most people on trains operate in mindless, none-of-my-business mode. Anyway, I guess every dog has it’s day.
Hi Roger,
I love it…every dog has it’s day!
Thank you for making me laugh!
What a great story! I am a huge dog lover myself so I really enjoyed reading it (and really hope the dog was on his/her way to a meeting and not a stray). I completely agree — most people could learn and thing or two from the dog you saw. And people could learn a lot from the post you wrote too. As you mentioned, it seems that people are so caught up in their own lives that they scarcely notice what is happening all around them. People should take more time to be present in their own lives!
@ Positively Present – You are right…people should take more time to be present in their own life. Hopefully, with time more people will be more present. As for the dog, he did not look like a stray at all.
@ Sunny – Thank you so much for the compliment. I guess when you have a name like Sunny…you cannot help but spread kindness.
I write with the intention to be myself and sometimes it is best to use things I have seen. Thank you for liking my style of writing. It is great to get such comments!
@ Michael – I can assure you that every word in all my posts are true. I take no joy at making someone look foolish…it is not my style!
I love the way you carve stories into your posts so offhandedly and bring out their essence in your writings. Excellent Nadia.
Nadia, how do I know this isn’t an April Fool’s joke?
What a neat story! I especiallly like that you NOTICED this was going on. It amazes me sometimes how people pay so little attention to what is happening around them. Good for you, for staying present and enjoying the little things.
On the other hand, maybe the dog was being walked by an invisible owner who you were rudely staring at the whole time! tsk, tsk!!!
=-)
Hi Lisis,
I am big on noticing things…I love to just watch people…it is always so much fun. It also is a great source for inspiration too!
As for the invisible owner…anything is possible, right?
Hi Nadia,
Hope I didn’t offend you with my comment. It’s just that I’m not above a harmless April’s Fools joke.
And, Lisis, an invisible owner? Nah! It’s much more likely that the dog itself was invisible – to everyone but Nadia. Perhaps it was a spirit dog? Such things do happen.
Hi Michael,
No worries…you didn’t offend me at all.
I know you were being funny!
And as for the dog being invisible that may be one possible explanation as to why I was the only person on the train who found the whole thing to be amusing…let alone even notice the dog!
Hi Nadia
I hope the doggie really know his way home!? I am a dog lover, and I can’t help but to worry about the doggie getting home. But may be that is because I am thinking about my 2 pugs, they wouldn’t know there way home. This dog you speak of sounds a lot smarter.
Thank you for the lessons in this post, so many people are so blind.
Thanks for sharing.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Hi Giovanna,
I am happy that you liked the post. I know what you mean about the dog…I sometimes do wonder whatever happened to him/her.
Haha, this made me smile.
I love the idea of different species getting along, respecting each other enough to let the them go about their business.
Hi David,
Glad that this made you smile…smiling is essential…four out of five people recommend it in order to have a happy life!
We should take that fifth person out for coffee.
Sounds good to me, David. Actually…that must mean you are feeling better, right?
Are you trying to April fool us?
Seriously, where I live we still wait for turkeys to cross the road, or snapping turtles or broken loose cows. But not anything like how I experienced it in Asia, where even the monkeys were climbing in the bus (granted, not for a ride but to steal your food).
Lovely story!
Hi Jess,
When we were in Agra, the hotel had actual signs telling visitors to make sure to keep the windows closed because monkeys were known to enter hotel rooms and steal stuff. I should have taken a picture of that sign!
I am glad that you liked the post!
I like the way he just blended in.
In my neighborhood, there’s a gang of dogs that hang out and play together for the day and they go home at night. It’s like a bunch of kids just meeting up to play for the day.
Hi J.D.!
Welcome to Happy Lotus! It is interesting how the dog just blended in…even though he/she was of the four-legged variety.
As for the gang of dogs in your area…you are right…it is so similar to human behavior. Makes you wonder if we humans do anything that is dog-like? 