Rudeness vs Compassion

Today I went to take my dog to a practice evaluation for a local non profit organization called Paws.  Its essentially for dogs to be used as therapy pets at various places such as elderly homes.  I actually had gone to the orientation and also visited a center prior to today in prep for this event.  So this morning, I woke up 630, got ready and was out the door to reach the evaluation location about 30 minutes from my home.  Through the drive there, I wasn't 100% convinced about this program.  The orientation made me feel the program is a bit to rigid in its process (not enough creativity), and even the site visit was a bit dull as dogs were heavily supervised and the interaction time with the elders was too planned.  So I thought to myself with an open mind...even if Coco doesn't fit in, or doesn't pass this evaluation, its OK, but its worth giving it a shot...

Once I reached the location, prior to the start of the evaluation, I noticed Coco was acting shy, and uncomfortable amongst the variety of other dogs- to me it was a sign she didn't care for the situation.

When a first volunteer walked up, I noticed Coco was not very friendly and a bit defensive.  That started making me think that this evaluation perhaps might not work out after all.  Then, a few minutes later, a second volunteer walked by.  When she reached out to pet Coco, Coco snapped at her.  I knew it wasn't a good situation.

"That's it, you gotta leave" she went on to say.  I couldn't look at her in the eye, because I was focused on calming Coco down and making her comfortable.  "I'm serious, she reiterated, you gotta go".  I looked at the lady this time, and felt a bit tinged with dislike.  "Just one incident like this, and you are asking me to leave", I asked..."Yes, she said, your dog bit me"...  onward she ranted about how this could be a therapy for kids organization and that this would not work.  And kept reiterating how I need to leave.

Knowing this wouldn't work, I swallowed my pride, even knowing how Coco would be one of the best therapy pets possible.  Not only myself, but many passerby's always comment on how sweet she is and I've personally noticed how she can really turn someone feeling down into positive energy.

I was ready to leave as I knew I wasn't meant to be there.  But this volunteer kept insisting that I need to leave...I reacted..."You don't need to be so rude" about it, " I got the point", I went on to say.  Another volunteer approached her.  "Did the dog bite you?"  "Yes", she responded, "his dog bit me", she said.."My dog did not bite", she doesn't bite, I went on to defend..."and you really don't need to be so rude..."

The point I am making is that even though I was wrong in thinking Coco was right for this program, there are so many different ways to approach situations.  This particular volunteer was very immature and rude with me.  She didn't exhibit any empathy even though it was a organization that I wanted to go to, volunteering my own time, to leverage Coco to help others.

Driving home, I realized something about myself. I can't deal with rude people, I definitely prefer sweeter types.  Also that I should treat everyone as if I have known them for a very long time, or as if they are my own children..because then your approach towards others, when they are making a perceived mistake, is one of compassion and love, not rudeness and anger...