Play Or Work

Hi. It’s Monte again. Thanks for the kind comments about my observations along this thing called a “project.” I’m not sure what a project is, but you can read my other articles here.

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One thing I really don’t get is the idea of “work” and “play.” Rich and Becky always talk about them like they’re different, but they seem the same to me.

When Rich drops something, I love picking it up and giving it back to him. It’s fun, and it makes me feel good. They call that work.

When he throws a tennis ball, I love chasing it and bringing it back. I could do that all day. They call that play.

I don’t see the difference.

Humans seem certain that work shouldn’t be fun. When I pick up something for Rich I’m not supposed to pounce on it or shake it or anything. I’m supposed to just pick it up and quietly put it in his lap.

B-O-R-I-N-G!

Why not add some laughs? If the job still gets done, what’s wrong with turning it into a game?

I don’t get why you’d do something if you don’t want to do it. Personally, I’ll do about anything for a biscuit. Rich and Becky think they’re training me, but really I’m just having fun. I love getting treats, and it’s exciting to figure out how to get them.

I guess they think it’s “work” if it’s something they want and “play” if it’s something they think I want. If I was smarter I suppose I’d refuse to play; then they’d give me treats for everything. But dogs don’t manipulate like that.

Humans don’t seem to care about treats. I’ve heard them talk about something called money, but it doesn’t make sense. Why would you do stuff you don’t like to get something you can’t eat? Money must be really important, because they spend most of their time trying to get more of it.

I think we’d all be better if we did stuff we liked and didn’t worry about whether it’s work or play.

Rich is doing this “project” I don’t really understand, but I think it must be a pretty good thing. He’s working really hard, he’s always tired, and I think he’s having a lot of fun. It’s not like most of the stuff humans do—you can’t tell if it’s work or play.

That’s the kind of thing that gets a dog excited, even without treats.

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Rich and I had fun doing an interview in Quincy. This reporter clearly understood who’s really the star of this show.

Rich and his friend Glenn took a thirty-five mile ride south of Hannibal today. I didn’t get to go along, but they said they had a great ride and saw some beautiful scenery.

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