Point of View: Growin’ With O’en

David Brooks wrote the other day about the lack of trust in our society, and how corrosive that is when it comes to a thriving democracy.

I would like to offer our puppy, O’en (that’s how Mary, who named him, has chosen to spell Owen), as a paradigmatic example of democratic interaction. I’ve never seen a dog so at ease with others, whether they be four or two-legged. While admittedly he can sometimes overreach when it comes to the intimacy that the essayist urges upon us — Mary has the nip marks on her ankles and wrists to prove it — O’en has already, only nine weeks into his life, cut rather a fine figure here at The Star.

What was it Pericles said in speaking of Athenian democracy? “We make friendships not by receiving kindness from others but by conferring it on others.” And that’s the way it’s been with O’en. He confers licks upon one and all without prejudice, so that his admirers, in turn, become more inclined to confer kindnesses upon others — and freely, so that the recipients do not think of them as in any way burdensome, as debts to be paid. 

O’en is not an isolationist, he welcomes all comers, he is an eager participant in a free and open society, collegial, an ideal democrat. O’en for all, and all for O’en, we like to say. 

Yes, he is not yet entirely apprised of the laws that strengthen our way of life and whose purpose is to extend fair play to all, though, if truth be told, that is largely owing to the fact that his owners, whose brains have atrophied somewhat over the years, need more training than he.

And, wonderful to tell, there is someone, Matty Posnick, who can provide that guidance, at weekly puppy kindergarten classes at ARF that we’ve begun to attend. These sessions are pure joy, whether the attendees are at work or at play. His instructions, designed to create a more perfect union between owners (O’eners, in our case) and their pets, Mary and I have come to view, in toto, as “The Gospel According to St. Matty.”

When Matty speaks, we sit. And listen, and learn, and grow.

We’re growin’ O’en.