I was on a cruise ship and one day at lunch time an old lady came and sat next to me. She was a widow in her 80s, from South Africa and she was travelling alone. She was dripping in tasteless gold jewellery! this was an extremely wealthy lady. I made polite conversation over lunch but never thought we would have anything in common. She had acres of land, a large house and quite a few staff. The conversation was polite but a little dull until I mentioned that I had just trained as a dog trainer and behaviourist. Her eyes lit up, we actually made eye contact and she smiled. She began to tell me all about her 3 little dogs that she rescued from hunger and abuse to come and live with her on the farm in Pretoria. I shared the story of how we rescued Buddy from Battersea dogs home, and before either of us knew it we were having a friendly, animated and interesting conversation.This got me thinking. Could this happen to any two people from anywhere in the world? Just finding something in common, that special intimate bond we share with our dogs can be recognized by another person anywhere. A personal experience we could share with anyone in any country, of any religion or background. Just think if the World's politicians could do that!
