A dog with a job!

Often in Germany foreigners get stuck seeing only the bad parts of Germany since sometimes there are so many of them and they are so in your face. I purposely do not write about many of the negatives here, because I am a guest in this country and if I do not like the Germans I can always go home. However, ever so occasionally, I see something in Germany that absolutely causes delight for the rest of my day, so here was today's...

Often in Germany the mail is delivered on by a postal worker on foot or in my case, by a postal worker with a yellow bicycle and a flat box on the front that holds all of the deliveries. At the company where I work there is a minivan that comes since it is in an industrial complex and other companies also get loads of mail. Around the time I arrive each day at 0830-ish the lady is there, unloading around three of those cartons onto a small handtruck and carting them into the building.

One day I noticed Mr. Dog. His job is to sit up straight in the backseat of the postal minivan on a blanket and to watch the front door of the office until Postal Lady comes back. People are walking in and out and past the minivan, but Mr. Dog is undeterred and strict in his task. He barely blinks.

Today I did not leave my house until 0840 and walked to work. (Yes, I live a charmed life, I have given up early mornings and driving commutes.) I was quite close to the office and I see a lady and a dog not on a leash. He's rambling along and the lady is walking on ahead. I tend to be a little cautious about stepping between a dog and an owner, so I stepped into the street to walk along the recycle bins in order to pass the lady streetside. At that point I see the postal sign in the window of the minivan and realize, it's the Postal Lady and Mr. Dog. Of course I cannot contain my pre-coffee excitement and I stop dead in my tracks and actually say aloud 'it's the post dog!' loud enough for the lady to hear.

She is almost next to me and I feel a little silly so I then translate 'it's the post dog!' into German which probably sounds just as silly. However, I think she caught the bad accent and excused the silliness because she answered me 'yes it is.' I proceeded to tell her (in bad German) how I see Mr. Dog at the office each day, and in the meantime Mr. Dog came over so that I could pet him.

To her credit she put up with the bad German and we chatted for a few minutes. She explained that Mr. Dog is allowed to come with in Germany when she delivers mail and it's very nice, because it means that she is not alone when she's delivering mail and also, he can be protective if needed. Each morning they do their deliveries in the industrial complex and then they stop where I met him so that he can have a potty break in the trees. He was a gift dog from her friends who were leaving Germany to go to Greece and could not take him with for a variety of reasons, such as his large size.

She told me that he does the straight ahead staring thing everywhere when he is waiting. Her husband had brought him to the airport one time to pick her up and the plane was late. He was not interested in the planes circling in the sky or anyone in the airport. Instead he stared for two hours at the door watching for her to come through, not making the connection that she was still in the air and not immediately behind the door.

I told her that is was very nice that she could bring him as that is not so common in America. She said yes, and that she had seen a show once about a fire brigade in America that had a 'fire dog' but he was more of a mascot than a working dog. I compare this scenario to the US where one would never see a non-service dog in connection with the US postal service, and if one did, there would probably be some fear that his dog hair would get on a letter and cause an allergic reaction and someone to sue or something.

Sometimes, Germany in its ways can be quaint.