New Thing #199--Pet Theory

So it turns out I missed Take Your Dog To Work Day, which was June 20. Since I don't have a dog, and my cats would politely decline my offer, it's not any great loss. However, today I took an imaginary pet to work with me.

I chose a green ceramic frog that my mother-in-law crafted back in the 1960s. It's about seven inches tall, and it sits on the window seat in my kitchen. It normally doesn't have a name, but since all pets should be named, I decided he looked like a Francis. He was the perfect mascot...my tutoring center is for teens in substance abuse recovery, and the acronym F.R.O.G. stands for "Fully Rely On God"--a Twelve-Step slogan.

I laid Francis in a small basket and carried him carefully out to the car, then from the car into the building. I set him on the corner of my table, next to the sign-in sheet. That way everyone would notice him. However, over the course of the day only one person asked about him. I explained he was my pet, and asked if he would like to pet him; he backed away in disbelief.

Francis was very well behaved. He didn't run around the room, make noise, or ask to use the restroom. He stayed inside during the breaks, resting in his basket. At the end of the day Francis went back into the car for the ride home, and reclaimed his place on the window seat.