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Creature Coworkers: Percy
May 5th, 2020 |
In the summer and fall of 2016, Historic Bethlehem featured an exhibit, Creature Companions, with pictures, paintings, drawings, and other works featuring Bethlehem pets throughout history. Now as many of us work from home, these companions of ours have become our co-workers.
I thought it would be fun to walk you through a typical day with mine.
This is Percy. He is a two-year old hound mix with a propensity for mischief and eating shoes. During the current stay-at-home order our home office has promoted him to kitchen-stalking supervisor and the head of the barking-at-odd-hours department – a promotion everyone thinks he deserves.
He begins his day at the ripe hour of 4 am (he’s on the CEO schedule), yelling and butting his head into a door until someone wakes up and finally walks him. After a half hour of harassing the local squirrels and moles, he retires for a quick breakfast before the busy workday.
After breakfast, his day begins. First he finds whoever’s door is open and jumps on their bed for an hour or two. When he’s bored of that, he goes to his office (aka the couch). It has a beautiful view of the front of the house and catches all the sun. Percy, despite his heavy workload, tends to do more napping than actual paperwork. I’ve filed several complaints with HR, but they don’t seem to be doing anything. He’s not even hiding it!!!
Percy, the benevolent dog he is, agreed to help me with a little project of mine as well. I am interning at Historic Bethlehem this spring and I asked him if he would mind posing with some purses to celebrate the PURSEonality: A Stylish Handbag History, the current exhibit on display at the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts. Percy’s appreciation for the decorative arts only goes so far, but after showing him pictures of the exhibit he gave it two tails up. After that, he enthusiastically agreed to be my model for the day. He did so with incredible flair.
After all his hard work, he then returned to his office to continue his nap.
Percy typically remains there until around 5:00 pm, when he starts to yell for another walk with his coworkers. Another trek around the neighborhood, and he is set for the day.
Percy is an avid fan of dinner time in particular. He discusses his day enthusiastically by placing his head in the nearest lap and whining for attention. Unfortunately, my colleagues are quite taken with his antics, and he always receives a little bonus (snack) from the “meeting-table.”
Percy then retires back to his office where he will remain until the next morning, ready to start his busy day all over again. He is not the most diligent worker, and while I continue to beg him to please stop his plan to invest all of the company’s stock in stuffed toys, it seems as if I have lost that battle as well.
Percy is just one of many pets that have become coworkers during this time. How are your pets’ behavior in the “office?” Share your pet pictures and fun stories with us!
Florence Arnold is the spring 2020 education intern at Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. She is a senior at Muhlenberg College majoring in theatre and history.
