Yesterday, what thought to be a routine hair cut for our dog, Boomer, turned into surgery. I received a phone call at 2 o'clock in the afternoon from our groomer letting us know that he was ready to be picked up and that they accidentally cut his eye and would probably need the vet to take a look at it. So, I call my vet, whom we have gone to now for 12 years with Boomer, yes that is how old he is, to see if I could immediately bring him in. Sure they said, bring him straight in.
Let me start off by saying, Steve is out of town and has been now since Sunday and it's Thursday. Looooooong week already! Let alone everything else that has happened this week. Why is it, when the spouse is away, trouble is our way?
So, I get to the vet at 2:30pm and waiting on the doctor until 3:45pm to be seen. Thank goodness I only had one of my three children with me, otherwise, I am not sure exactly what would have happened in that vet room! I had no idea the severity of the wound. The vet assured me this needed immediate medical attention today-not tomorrow, but today! What does this mean? We have to put him to sleep and sew up the eye and it will 7pm before he is ready to be picked up. Are you kidding me?
Imagine this, you know where you eye lashes are attached under your eye? That rim up against your eye? That is what is sliced completely in half. Yes, doesn't that make you nausea? I am in tears for my poor little Boomer. Little in deed he is. He is a miniature Maltese and has never weighed over 5lbs. Okay, is he going to survive this and be okay? The vet assured me he is in good health and should be okay!
What would you do if this was your dog? Would you be mad at the groomer? Would you sue? What would you do? The groomer said she would pay for the vet bill when I picked up Boomer at 2pm. I believe she thought, no big deal, maybe $5o dollars she was thinking. Nope! Wrong! Try $504.00 to be exact. My grooming appointment has now cost me $500 when normally I pay $28 dollars. So, I call the groomers back on my way home to wait for Boomer's surgery to be over with and she says "that is way to expensive" "can you take him somewhere else?" Yeah, let me go back and pick him up after I had already been there for two hours to see if somewhere else is cheaper! I don't think so and besides we have been using this vet for twelve years. Crazy I know. I just told her that I would bring her a copy of the bill in the morning.
So, now it is Friday morning. I am praying what to do? Do I get angry? Do I expect her to pay the full amount? What should my feelings be. Besides, I also have to take Boomer back to the vet on Saturday for a recheck and next week to get the stitches out.
Lord, I said, this situation is in your hands. He gave me the verse, Luke 6:31 "Do to others as you would have them do to you." Isn't that what we teach our children. Now, it's time to act as the Lord has instructed us to do.
So, this morning I go and take her a copy of the bill and said, I forgive you, I do not harbour any hard feelings, and I will accept what ever you feel in your heart to give. I left it as that. So, we'll see. I will for sure let you know if she pays the full amount, a little, or none at all. The Lord teaches us lessons.
"Love your neighbor as yourself." Mark 12:31
Good heart seaching questions Christina. Opinion: Loving your neighbor is also holding them accountable for their words and deeds. Forgiveness has expectation (ie repentance - you might ask which comes first). I would expect myself (and my neighbor - if I love them like I love myself) to be responsible for my mistakes and accidents. I do that by keeping insurance for such accidents and by trying to be careful. To allow the groomer to shirk responsibilty is not the most loving thing you can do. Turning the other cheek is to not seek revenge (ie cut the groomer's dog's eye)...or hold a grudge... What do you think?
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