Non-Zen Dog Grooming

Okay, while my previous post is overall accurate, I thought I should update about my shitty day so that people don't get the impression that it's all fun and games down in Fergie-land.

Basically in the short version, I got behind on my dogs. I tried to make up for it on a particular pair of dogs (they came together from the same owner) by working quickly and letting my quality of work suffer. In the process, I knicked a dog's pad. For those not familiar with canine anatomy, if you cut a dog's pad, it tends to bleed, even if the cut isn't that deep. Dog's don't clot very well on their feet.

Anyway, that was strike one.

Strike two was since I was so behind, I skipped over aspects of the dog that I normally pay a lot of attention to. As a result, portions of the haircut were uneven. I thought the dog looked like shit.

Come to find out, the owner did too. I'm pretty sure they got a refund. And they deserved a refund. I wouldn't have paid for that shitty-ass haircut. It's not like a human haircut, where you can correct the stylist during the haircut if she starts making your head look uneven.

My dad used to point out when I did a crappy job with my chores. Let's say I was supposed to vacuum that day and I only vacuumed the traffic lanes. My dad would ask, "Son, did you vacuum today?"

"Yes."

"Well, did you vacuum under the chair?"

"No."

"Did you vacuum under the table?"

"No."

"Well, then how can you say you vacuumed? If you miss one aspect of vacuuming then it's just as if you didn't do it. Go vacuum the floor."

"Yes, dad."

So, while there was no Strike Three in the case of my two dogs today, there was a moral to this story: It's not worth doing if it's not worth doing right.

I'm going to be Zen about this and use this situation to re-affirm my commitment to quality work. Let's count it as a learning experience.