Beware of the dog…
I saw this sign while out inviting people to our church with some of our teen boys. I’m only semi-afraid of dogs. They need to be big fanged dogs for me to truly get that tingly feeling of soon-I’m-going-to-be-mauled-and-die. Mostly, I don’t even notice the signs, except for this one…
Look carefully at the picture...keep looking…
This is not one of those tricks where a spooky-faced ghoul pops out and frightens the Krispy Kreme donuts out of you (I just looked around for the “Hot Donuts” sign - man are those good donuts!).
Notice the level of the land behind the sign. The steps go upwards immediately behind the sign to a height that is taller than the fence that’s supposed to keep the dog in! Any dog, worth its dog food, could leap that fence, in a heartbeat, unless it was one of those mini-dogs that you carry in the palm of your hand, but then why would they have that sign? Why would you have that dog? For a snack? Sorry dog lovers...
By the time someone sees this sign, it’s way too late...they’re goners, curled up, in the fetal position on the ground, in pain from a dog-bite and crying for their Mommy!
This sign was likely a decoy to distract us, since I still have fingers and I’m typing this post. It was meant to push us away from this place, and it worked.
It made me think about the signs we give to other people that are pushing them away…
We look the other way, when we catch a strangers eyes in a Wal-Mart line...we could have the opportunity to talk to them and influence them, but we’re too nervous and we turn inward. What opportunity did we just miss?
We keep our office doors (cube curtains in some cases) closed showing we really don’t want to be a help to those we work with, and we’re satisfied with hanging with ourselves for the time being.
We keep our headphones plugged in our ears, as if to say, “We’re busy listening to some tunes, and don’t have time for you now.” This could have been a great chance to help someone, instead of catching up on the latest music.
We walk to our seat or pew, in church without taking time to shake a hand, showing we’re closed to people we see here each week. They may have had a very bad week and needed a simple handshake of encouragement, but we were focused on getting to our reserved spot.
We pick up our smartphone and pretend to check something or look at something we’ve looked at three times before, so we don’t get interrupted by that person that looks like they’re coming to ask a question. We just missed a simple chance to be a helpful servant to another.
We don’t help the elder lady to her seat or pick up that item, because that may change our image to a softy, and we sure don’t want that. We might influence a stranger that was watching us help - that would be terrible, wouldn't it?
Beware of the dog signs are not just on fences, we present ways to turn people away all the time, just like the signs.
Lessons Learned: Beware of the dog taking away your influence of others.
Thoughts: What signs are you showing others?
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