A Man's Best Friend

If you have time for only one book this year, make it John Grogan's "Marley & Me". Especially if you're a dog lover. More so if you own a Labrador.

I'm not one who can laugh whilst reading a comic, or tear while reading a sad novel. It takes a movie or some real live action scene to make me react instantaneously, if at all. I laugh like "seow" watching "Just for Laughs", and I tear everytime I watch that saccharine sweet scene from "Love Actually" or "Untamed Heart".

But this book, it got me smiling to myself and tearing whilst reading. I swear I looked like a "seow char bor" reading and tearing while reading the last few chapters on the train. It was a good thing I was at the 2-seater.

A man's best friend surely, has got to be his canine pal. Who else still greets you with so much enthusiasm every single day even after you've given him a good beating or tongue lashing? It's almost like they have an extremely short term memory.

Hence, it irates me when I hear of dog abuse cases. Or situations where humans react in a certain way, citing "it's just a dog what" as a reason. Oh, that really pisses me off. I tell you, some dogs behave better than some kids. And grown ups. Just last week, a friend of mine related an incident he had with a not-so-pleasant chain of vets. He has since written in to AVA with an account of what happened. I didn't have a pleasant experience on my one and only visit to this not-so-pleasant chain either, so I think there must be something really quite unpleasant about them.