Ask Just One Question

The other day I pulled into a car park behind a small complex housing a medical centre, pharmacy and vets.

I got out of my car and noticed a rather large man carrying a spaniel in his arms.  He walked across from his car to a patch of grass where he placed the spaniel on its feet.  The spaniel promptly fell over on its side.  As the man bent down to attend to the dog he dropped some papers on the grass.  I  walked over to help him out.  As I did so I thought how sad this was.  Such a lovely late winter’s day with warm air and early spring flowers just beginning to come through from their winter hibernation and here he was bringing the family dog down to the vets for what may be its last journey and all by himself as well.

When I reached him the man was struggling to untangle the lead from around the dog’s lifeless legs.  I gathered up his papers for him and gave him a hand with the dog.  He picked the dog up again in his arms and I gave him his papers.

‘Cheers mate, great help………come on you daft bugger, let’s get this over with’.

At the beginning of 2017 one of the UK’s tabloid newspapers showed a picture of the effects of an arctic Armageddon. Deep snow, frozen rivers and trees laden with snow. Under the picture was the headline ‘Britain braces itself for Arctic blast’ that was going to bring the country to a standstill.  I never liked this paper very much in its current format and because of most of its political opinions just as much as I dislike bitterly cold weather but I did read further into the article on the inner pages having been baited by the headline.  The article urged its readers to stock up on food and to get things like banking done before they became snowbound in their homes.  The paper quoted the source for the story as the Meteorological Office.

The same day I read the apocalyptic headline I went into the local Post Office.  It was a cold day but nowhere near Arctic or even Antarctic conditions.  Normally at the time of day I went in there would be a queue of four or five people but that day there was no queue.  I mentioned to the lady behind the counter how quiet it was.

‘We have done about two day’s business this morning.  It has been manic.  Customers coming in getting worried about the cold weather forecast.’

Weather forecasting is based on probabilities that are calculated by complex mathematical calculations.  The relevant report from the Meteorological Office explained this very clearly.  Then I read the forecast the paper had based its own headline on. It predicted that there could be an abnormally cold winter but the probability of this happening was 30%.  So, by deduction that meant there was a 70% probability that the winter would be normal.

If only the people who had read and reacted to a headline had taken a little bit of time to ask just one question along the lines of ‘Will that really happen?’ or ‘Do I really have to panic?’ they could have saved themselves a lot of stress and worry.  All they had to ask was just one more question.

Just like the man with the dog.  I did feel so sorry for him and the dog but I did ask just one more question.

‘What is wrong with him?’ and got an answer.

If I had not asked that one question I would have gone back to work sad and upset about what I perceived to be a very traumatic situation for that man.  Instead, when he told me what was going on we both had a great laugh together as the dog lay on the ground fully deserving of an Oscar for best lead animal.

‘She hates the bloody vets.  As soon as we pull into the car park she pretends to collapse on the back seat of the car and I have to carry her in.  Every time mate.’

He walked off towards the vets embracing the dog.

A few minutes later I returned to the car park and there was the same man walking back to his car with a rejuvenated spaniel bounding at the end of its lead.  He saw me.

‘See mate, she’s as good as new….daft bugger, come on let’s get you home.’

Just one more question.  That is all it took to change my understanding of a situation.