We all make mistakes, but some are certainly more severe than others. For months, one busy dog mom continuously made an embarrassing mistake that she’ll never forget. Somehow, she mixed up an accountant’s office with the doggy daycare across the street.
While most would figure out the truth after one visit, this confusion went on far too long. Luckily, everyone involved was kind and amused by the situation, and it’s now something they can laugh about. Sometimes, mistakes end up turning into something beautiful!
The narrator of the story posted this hilarious exchange on Reddit, and she got overwhelmingly positive results.
This Isn’t a Doggy Daycare at All
It all started when the narrator worked at a dog-friendly office right across the street from a doggy daycare. The office was an open floor plan where the dogs could roam free, and their food and water bowls were right by the door. Since customers never came into the office, it didn’t seem like a big deal. The only problem was that the narrator was the only employee without a dog of their own due to apartment pet restrictions.
“One day a very frantic woman came in and she had an absolutely massive Basset Hound with her. Usually the only people who came into the office were associates who had appointments with someone working there, but it was rare they brought their dogs.
She ran up to me and said ‘Do you work here?’ And I said ‘Yes, how can I help you?’ And she said ‘I wasn’t sure if you took walk ins but I read online I could just drop him off? I tried to call but no answer.'”
Of course, this confused the narrator, but the woman proceeded to explain that she was in a hurry and needed to drop off Otis the Basset Hound. She handed over food and said she’d be back in a few hours. Instead of realizing the woman’s misunderstanding, the narrator assumed she was a friend of someone in the office. So, they gladly took the dog as the woman rushed out the door.
But when the narrator showed Otis to their co-workers, no one recognized the dog.
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
At first, the narrator feared that Otis’ mom wouldn’t return. But at the same time, they were overjoyed to finally have a dog at work. Otis was very chill, and they took great care of him. They cleaned up his drool, fed him, and gave him regular bathroom breaks. The office even had an extra dog bed for him to rest on.
“At the end of the day the woman, thank God, came back. She said ‘Thanks, you’re a lifesaver. How was he?’ And I said ‘He was a champ.’ And was about to say ‘But why is he here’ when she said ‘That’s a relief. Most kennels say he gets anxious around other dogs. I heard you operated at a much higher capacity, I was thrilled to see you had so few clients in the room at one time. So, how much do I owe?’ And that’s when I realized she thought we were a dog daycare.
Now, I probably should’ve corrected her. But I loved my day with the office dog and I did want to get paid for supervising this strange dog all day. I just threw out the number that sounded fair and appropriate. ‘That’ll be $20.’ I said.
She replied ‘Reaalllly?!’ in this very high tone, and I couldn’t tell if I’d overshot or undershot. But she paid me and left.”
After the woman left, the narrator laughed about it with their co-workers. At first, they just thought it would be a funny story to look back on, but that wasn’t the end of it.
An Ongoing Mistake
The next week, the woman returned. She didn’t seem to have any clue that the place was an office and not a daycare. So, she dropped Otis off again. The narrator was very young at the time, so they figured they shouldn’t spoil a good thing. They loved having Otis around.
“Not long after, Otis started getting dropped off two, sometimes even three or four days a week. I was in heaven. He was such a love. And he made fast friends with the delivery guys and visitors.
One day we took our office Christmas card photo and Otis was over that day, so we included him. In a Santa hat. It was pretty great.”
But as it turns out, Otis’ mom was friends with one of the office’s clients. So, when the woman was at that friend’s house, she saw Otis happily posing in the Christmas card.
“One day Otis’ owner came in holding the card and walked up to me and said ‘I can’t even believe I’m asking this but… is that my dog in this photo? This isn’t a dog daycare at all. This is just an office, isn’t it?’
She said it with a note of surprise, as though she was looking around and putting it all together for the first time (no coincidence that this was the first time she wasn’t in some crazy rush either.) She was like ‘Then who are all these other dogs?!’”
Turning a Bad Situation into a Good One
The narrator had no choice but to explain everything to the woman. They were terrified that she’d ask for her money back or take legal action against the company, but she just seemed confused. When asked why they didn’t say anything sooner, the narrator explained how much they loved having Otis around because they were the only one without a dog. Their co-workers confirmed that they were telling the truth.
“So she said, ‘Well, I wish you’d said something sooner. Could’ve saved me a lot of embarrassment with my friend back there. Alright, I have to get going. See you at 4:00.’ And she left Otis! I couldn’t believe it!
I said ‘So he can stay?!’ And she replied ‘Where else could I find someone to watch him one on one all day for $20?’ And off she went.”
Otis continued to stay at the office for nearly two years until he and his mom moved away. Coincidentally, it happened just before the narrator got a new job. After all this time, they thought it would be a heartwarming story to share during a difficult time. After all, it made many people smile!
H/T: reddit.com
Featured Image: @TheDogsAtWork/Facebook
Toledo, United States.
