And no it's not just that they make us mature and 'reliable' types look good. Although that's true too.
Let me explain.
Last week Gail had to go to work on what's her normal day off, to attend a meeting about something called 'Glendronach' (but not the whisky apparently). It happened that one key participant in the meeting was puppy-sitting that day, his wife and children being away in Glasgow. So four month old Labrador Jack had been left in the back of this gentleman's pristine Land Rover Discovery while the meeting was taking place.
The meeting dragged on, as these affairs are prone to do. Gail says she could see Jack's owner looking increasingly twitchy, almost certainly anticipating his wife's reaction in the event of an 'accident' in the Discovery. Eventually, the discussion paused for a nanosecond, and Jack's owner butted in, his voice sounding on the surface calm and decisive, but with undertones of panic: "Thank you everyone, that was a very useful session and I think we can now bring the meeting to a close. We'll convene again next week."
Which meant that Gail was home earlier than would otherwise have been the case, even before it was dark, and so I was treated to an extra walk around the park.
THANK YOU JACK!
