PETernity
Dear Editor,
Re: PETernity leave–a sign of the times
Loved your article. To some degree it is a laughable idea (i.e. the spider), but there is some validity to parts of it, as you acknowledge. I have 9 cats and a dog (yes, I’m crazy), and, vet bills aside, they are the most enjoyable things in my life. I recall that when my 13 ½ year old dog died in 1999, I had only been at my new job 3 months. I got the news over the phone, and they sent me hom (I was crying so much I was pretty useless anyway). The the boss asked if I’d like to take Monday off, but I declined, not wanting to be in the empty house. He was actually a stinker of a boss, but he was an animal lover, so I guess he wasn’t all evil.
Many of us with few relatives do come to think of pets as family. OK, I admit I give mine middle names, Adelaide Elizabeth, Pandora Louise, Fergus Patrick, Seamus Martin, Merlin James, etc., but it’s only for fun (and for when I get cross with them). In fact, I just adopted a 14 year old whose name already was Margaret Mary (I think it’s because she’s black and white and looks like a nun). Still, there are relatives I can think of for whom I would shed far fewer tears than I did for Amber Elizabeth (the dog).
I would guess that this idea will continue to spread, especially through the US, where some places allow pets at work. I’m not crazy about that idea, since the cats would sit on the paperwork and the dog would drool on it, but some people seem to function more efficiently when their best friend and “chief adorer� is around.
However, when your pet is sick, you do have it on your mind, and the more things on your mind, the less productive you become. I don’t think that “regular maintenance� should be cause for excused absence, but the serious problems should warrant some time off. With many people mourning Barbaro this week, it seems an appropriate time to give thought to how we feel when a pet is sick or passes on. My heart went out to Barbaro’s owners, because I think that they did feel the love for him that I feel for all ten of my little monsters. I hope that they are able to have some “compassionate time� to grieve.
Paula
