The Friday afternoon after the election my wife and I had a strange and somewhat enlightening experience at the Walmart on U.S. 41 here in Terre Haute. As we were leaving Walmart, my wife spotted a small dog, dragging its leash, headed toward the south entrance to the store with no regard for the cars driving through the parking lot not looking for or expecting to see a small dog running loose. Another lady spotted the runaway dog and corralled it before it could get into further trouble. My wife and the other lady noticed a Dodge minivan with its back door open sitting in the parking lot. It was obvious the dog was headed inside to help its dog parents shop.
After some discussion, the other lady said she had kids waiting on her, so she had to leave. That is when we gained temporary custody of a really cute small white dog who at this time was really scared. It was amazing, in the next half hour or so, how many people stopped and petted the dog, and we had to explain it wasn’t ours but seemed to be lost and we suspected it belonged to whoever owned the minivan with the open door. One man came by, going into the store, and said he would go to customer service and have them announce over the store speaker there was a lost dog in the parking lot, and we thought the owner might be in the store shopping. He stopped again on his way out to check on things and give the dog another pet. Finally, a lady and her husband came out of the door and when she saw us and their dog standing by the open car door, she grabbed the little guy and started hugging it and thanking us for keeping watch over their dog. We explained we have had several dogs in the past and enjoyed spending some time with this little cutie.
On the way home I realized that the man who had the store announce there was a lost dog in the parking lot was wearing a Trump shirt. If you have read my previous opinion pieces you probably know I was a Harris supporter. There were probably at least 15 people who stopped and asked about the dog while we waited, and I started to wonder how many voted for Trump. Maybe we can find things we can agree on in spite of our politics. What could be a better teacher than helping a lost dog?
— Ron Gadberry,
Sullivan
