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| PET ME OR ELSE I WON'T LIKE YOU |
| the sign says: |
| My dog "Jack", sitting on the special table I made for him |
| photo by Jeff Opal, taken in 2001 |
| It is hilarious to watch people's reactions when they walk up to the coffeeshop and see this unusual display. When a group arrives who have never before seen the display, one of them usually sees the dog, and reads the sign...and then they all talk about the display, and laugh. When such a group arrives and reacts to the dog this way, when they then enter the coffeeshop's front door, they usually want to ask workers (and customers too) questions about the dog. The workers really like it when I put Jack up on display like this, by the front door. I'm sure I know the main reason why they like it so much: because it helps them fulfill one of their most important job-functions: creating a cheerful and emotionally-uplifting coffeeshop environment. I.e, with Jack there they don't have to smile so much. The workers often hint to me that they want me to put Jack up on this table. When I don't do it they sometimes exhibit obvious disappointment. BTW, Jack stays on the table very obediently. He also becomes visibly excited when I drive up to the coffeeshop, apparently because he likes being this "one-animal petting-zoo" so much. Also, if I arrive at the coffeeshop but leave him in the car, he finds the white top of the table and sits on it, and looks out the rear window of the car, towards the coffeeshop. This seems to be his way of strongly hinting to me a hint that says, "Come on now, put me there where people will pet me!!" People often express amazement to me about his not jumping off. I've been a bit surprized about this too, mainly because I've made no effort to train him to stay on the table. |
| Several people have complimented me for the sign that I made and attached to the table. They agree that its quite amusing. BTW, believe it or not, once a 25-ish blonde woman approached me and informed me that she had just finished a research paper (a homework assignment for an LSU management class) that interpreted data about what kinds of people react in what ways to Jack on this table! She and I compared observations. Both of us had noticed the same "correlations": groups with women over 40 and/or small children were far more likely to stop and pet Jack than other groups. Least likely were groups of males between the age of around 15-25. I have two theories about why Jack remains up on the table so-obediently, without my having trained him to do it: 1--everyone who pets him rewards him for being on the table. 2--I long ago trained him to do a similar behavior: to remain in the car (up on a car seat that is around the same height as this table) when the car door next to the seat he is on is open. These two things seem to adequately explain his obedience. |