When I was working in the office of The Press and Standard, My husband would come by everyday and meet me for lunch. As part of our routine, he would bring our little dog, Freddy, with him.
Freddy absolutely loved coming to the office. He still does. His favorite thing is to rush in the door stop at each employee desk for a brief visit, sniff everyone's trash cans, then run in circles around the open space of the office.
His zoomies were fun to watch.
But the best part of his day and the thing he enjoyed the most was when Mailman Jeff came in.
Mailman Jeff and Freddy developed a routine and fast friendship. Mailman Jeff would bring in the mail and pick up outgoing correspondence. Freddy would immediately run up to him and give a gruff huff. It wasn't exactly a bark, it was just a small huff designed to catch Mailman Jeff's attention.
Jeff would ignore him for a brief moment and then suddenly look down at Freddy, stomp his foot, and lunge, acting like he was going to chase the little Chiweenie.
Freddie would jump away and then run in figure eights across the indoor outdoor carpet like a crazy little nut. Next, he would run back to Jeff and the whole scenario would start over. After a few minutes, Jeff would say his goodbyes and leave. Freddy would run to the door and sadly watch his favorite person, Mailman Jeff, drive off.
A few weeks ago, we had to visit the office and of course, we took Freddie with us. He began his usual routine of sniffing and visiting, when suddenly, he heard the bells clinking at the door. He knew that meant someone had just come into the office.
Freddy took one look at the uniform, and thinking it was his favorite person Mailman Jeff, he took off like a tiny tan colored rocket, making a beeline for the person at the door.
Unfortunately, it was not Mailman Jeff. It was the new mail lady.
She took one look at the small tornado rushing at her with gruff little barks and turned and ran right back out the door.
Before I could get to the door to tell her that Freddy would not hurt her, she was not only out the door, but she was in her truck, peeling out of the parking lot and down the highway!
Uh oh.
I turned away from the door to see seven pairs of eyes staring at me; five pairs from the employees, my husband, and one visitor, and one pair from Freddy.
Poor little Freddy looked pole axed. He was stupefied. His big brown eyes looked back at me with utter confusion. He absolutely could not understand why his mail person didn't play with him.
An employee spoke up and mentioned that sometimes mail carriers would stop delivering to homes or businesses with vicious dogs, and they would be reported.
I grew concerned at this and decided my husband and I needed to do something quick.
We jumped in the car and decided to hunt down the mail lady and introduce her to Freddy so that she could see that he was harmless.
We didn't find her after driving up and down the highway for half an hour.
So next we decided to go to the main branch of the post office here in Walterboro. We walked in the door carrying Freddy, and as soon as the postal employee working at the desk saw us with the dog, she looked concerned. She ignored the three other people in line ahead of us and immediately addressed us by asking what we needed. I think she was about to tell us to get the dog out of there, but I started talking before she could.
I explained what happened at the office, and said that Freddy was there to apologize to the mail lady. Everyone waiting in line began to snicker and chuckle.
Freddy just sat there in my arms and looked completely innocent.
The employee took our names, wrote out our apology and evidently, the male lady received it.
The next day, we heard that she delivered mail to the office right on time.
So, dear mail lady, please don't be scared of Freddy. He's very sorry he scared you, and sends this message: "Next time you come by and I'm there, would you please play? I live with two boring old people and need the excitement."
