Juvenall Wilson

Wasn’t it just the other day I was talking about how few things really take me back and leave me speechless? So what happens today? Another major “wow” moment. It’s really funny how a short trip to a library can totally change your day-to-day life.

For the last few days, Michelle and I have been getting up at what others would call a “normal hour” and today was no different. After noticing she was up and about, I worked my way upstairs from my office to say good morning and see if she would be interested in getting some breakfast with me. Before I could get to that, she started in about her paper and how she needed to head back to Eastern’s library to get a book for a report she had due. We had talked about it yesterday a little, but it was sort of shifted to the back of my mind. So in a moment of weakness, I offered to tag along and even get lunch with her at this Thai restaurant in Ann Arbor. She loved the idea and said to give her a few to wake up and get ready.

It wasn’t long before we hit the road and were up at the restaurant. Lunch was fantastic. We both had the Panang special, something I used to get all the time when I was working out that way and talked about school, life and how the waitress kept giving the wrong plates to the wrong people. The food was amazing, though. Well worth the trip on it’s own. When we finished up, it was over a few doors to Media Play. Shelly had taken an interest in getting Half-Life 2 for herself and we figured “Hey, lets knock that out right now”. So we screwed around in the store for a while, got the game and worked our way back to the freeway.

Shortly before we were back on the road, Shelly remembered that she wouldn’t be able to get the book she needed on account of some policy they had in place. So instead of doing that, which didn’t really sound all that interesting anyhow, we thought it would be fun swing by the store we got our terrier Eina just for the fun of it. They always had a huge selection of animals and it was fun just to check them out. Since we were also out that way, Michelle wanted to have a look at Belleville. I spent a few years there as a kid so I thought it would be fun.

Our first stop, however, was to Petland. The very second we walked in that store, I should have known to turn right the hell around, get in the car and cower under the basement stairs for a week. Ignoring instinct, I kept going. What was the very first thing I saw? A small, white and light brown ball of fur just sitting upright and proper staring me in the face. The very second I saw that, I knew deep down that I was in more trouble than I cared to admit. We have been talking about getting another terrier so Eina had a playmate for a while, but we’ve never really found the right one.

After a few minutes of looking down the other animals and finding out the one I really liked was $1600, we asked to take a look at the terrier we saw when we first walked in. Now to be honest, it was because the tag above his cage talked about “monthly payments as low as $27″ where the other dogs where in the $50 to $80 range. Not that I wasn’t instantly attracted to the dog on first sight, but I do live on a budget. Anyhow, since the two small visiting rooms were in use, we got to take him over by the dog food and walk him around the store a bit. My god man, never had I felt so strongly about a puppy in my life. He was just perfect. Affectionate, playful, loving and highly attractive. It wasn’t long before I knew what the rest of my day would involve.

Before we made our decision though, we needed to make sure Eina was going to get along with another dog. She’s always seemed alright with other dogs (for example, when we would go out for walks or our former neighbors black lab), but it’s better to be safe then sorry. That tacked on another 40+ minutes of running home, getting Eina ready, cleaning up a little in case we did bring him home and getting back to the store. By this time, it was like 7:30pm and we were getting tired as hell. We had spent like 3 hours playing with this puppy by then and just sorta wanted to be done with the whole thing. Cutting to the chase here, we spent another hour and a half trying to figure out if Eina and the new dog were going to get along. It didn’t seem like it was going to work. Eina just wanted nothing to do with him. In the end though, we chalked it up to her being a little shocked with all the noises, sounds and stress from the car ride. It was 9:00pm when we finally decided to take the little guy home.

Now, I’m quite the shutter bug when it comes to events in my life. That’s why, when we came home to get Eina, I took my new camera with me to capture the moment. Those that know me are probably wondering why I don’t have a picture of the new dog already up. Apparently, while I was checking out the dog, either Michelle or the store clerk had taken my coat and tossed it up on a stack of cages for safe keeping. When this happened, out rolled my camera, case n’ all, a for a good 5 or 6 foot drop. Not wanting to upset me, Michelle and the clerk decided not to say anything. It wasn’t until I went to get my wallet out of my coat that I was told what had happened. Jesus I was pissed. Michelle was crying, the clerk was trying to explain things and I was just red in the face. This wasn’t just a camera to me, it was a gift from a very good friend. What really sucked is neither of them could figure out who tossed my coat so I couldn’t just blame the store and make them pay for it. That really, really brought down the joy of the night. It was so bad, I almost gave up on the puppy. Almost.

As a side note, while we were checking out the puppy, this young, overweight black woman came up to us and started asking about the puppy. She started getting into how she wishes she could afford on and said something about some gift card she had. Well, within moments of being alone, she tried to sell us the gift card. At this point, we figured it was some sort of scam, but I like to screw with those people, so I played along and said “we’ll see”. As we were waiting for Michelle’s credit to run through, the manager came over to the woman and asked her to leave. She protested a little and then came over to me to tell me what happened. It was here she slipped me the gift card and said she was going to be waiting outside. If I used it, I could give her some cash. I accepted thinking it was still a scam and she walked out of the store. It was just minutes after she left that this big dude working there came over to me to ask if she tried selling me a gift card. I told him yeah and handed him the card explaining what went down. He took it in the back to check it and it turns out it was a valid $50 card. So needless to say, I was a little taken back when they actually called the cops about the whole thing. It’s not like she was doing anything wrong. Anyhow, when we left to go get Eina, I met her back at her car and walked her inside to make sure she got her card back. I’m willing to help scam a scammer, but a young woman just trying to ditch a card for some cash isn’t someone I’m interested in hurting.

Alright, this is turning into a damn novel. Time to wrap it up. For those who just skipped over all of the above, I am the proud father of a 4 month old rat terrier puppy. As I type this, he’s running around my feet trying to get my attention. I’m still a little uneasy about having the little guy, but I really think I can give him a great life. Time will tell, right?