The VP of our sales team wanted to organize a big revenue team get-together on his rooftop in the Meatpacking district this late afternoon/early evening as an ode to the end of summer for the sales and customer success organizations, so our teams left the office early today to say goodbye to summer with burgers, vegetarian hot dogs, a whole lot of booze and margarita, and shot roulette. I’ll be honest when I say that I didn’t really want to go and just wanted to go home to see Chris since we’ve both been traveling (he’s been away in London, Cologne, and Bonn this week for work), and I hadn’t seen him since Sunday. But I guess my life at my company is a little different now than it used to be: now, I actually have semi-new hires who report to me, so I really need to make sure my team morale is high and make sure they feel like their boss is at these events and wants to mingle and get along with everyone. It’s part of the life of being a manager: it’s not always about what you want, but it’s also about what your direct reports would want at a company that makes them happy and feel like they are loved and nurtured. It’s actually funny that I went because our VP of sales, who knows I rarely go to these events (but has surprisingly seen me at the last two) greeted me with a hug and said, “Hey, Yvonne! I didn’t expect you to come, but I’m happy you made it!” Yep, his expectation was in line, but I am capable of surprising.

I actually stayed over an hour longer than I had intended for two reasons: one, we played shot roulette, a game I’ve never played before but I knew I’d do well in (as an FYI to you in case you have never met me, I’m a 5’3″ slim Asian American with a very high alcohol tolerance who never gets “Asian glow”), so I knew I had to participate. And two, our VP of sales brought his dog to the rooftop named Bentley, aka “the poops,” who was really the sweetest, most trusting little Pekinese I’ve ever seen. I immediately lit up and ran up to him. I picked him up right away and he stayed in my lap, eating bits of my burger and constantly licking my fingers. I don’t think I’ve ever met a dog so trusting who wanted to be touched and picked up by anyone and everyone. Clearly, this dog has lived a perfect, privileged dog life.

This is why people have dogs and cats, I thought as I fed the poops bites of burger and stroked his beautiful, soft hair. They’re so comforting and soothing, and when they are this loving and trusting, all they do is give you extra warmth and love. They take in your attention and presence, and they ask little to nothing else of you (other than the food on your plate). You don’t have to explain yourself or talk to them or tell them when you’re unhappy or happy or mad or disappointed. They’re just there for you and love you; it’s truly unconditional.

This is also why I wish I could just rent a dog for a few hours every week. It would be so comforting for me to have this loving, soft animal to stroke and hold and feed, and would probably alleviate my own annoyances and anxieties about life.