ackwards Bob

ome time ago Baron Von Lodge was the head of a small country near Switzerland known as Lilliland.

William Teal, the man in charge of all the Baron’s pets, was somewhat confused when a dog appeared at the castle looking to be adopted by a caring person. While the dog looked normal in every way, one thing different about him was that he only walked backwards.

William Teal always named every stray dog looking to be adopted the same name, Bob. This dog was affectionately named Backwards Bob.

Teal brought in three dog experts to try to get the dog to walk forward. The first expert said to hit the dog gently with a folded newspaper until he walks forward. Teal said, “No. We do not hit dogs or any animal.”

The second expert said, “Starve the dog until it walks forward.” But Teal said, “No. We do not starve animals.”

The third expert said that if Backwards Bob always walked backwards, let it be. “If he is happy walking backwards, fine, as long as he remains healthy and happy.”

Teal said, “Does this mean that we have to give up?”

“No,” said the third dog expert. “Just approach the problem of Backwards Bob from a different angle. Simply accept Backwards Bob as a unique dog and a challenge to help him.”

The expert suggested that the dog should be adopted by someone who also walks backwards. After notices were posted, in just a few days a man came forward and said that he liked to walk backwards, just like Backwards Bob.

Teal wanted to make sure that the man who came forward to adopt Backwards Bob was a sincere person and would be a good master for the dog.

It turned out that the man’s name was Robert Pine, but all his friends called him Bob. They got along very well from the start and time would record that they enjoyed each other’s company for many years.

In looking for a solution to this problem, instead of trying to make Backwards Bob fit a preconceived image of what to do, it was very obvious that Backwards Bob was very unique and perhaps the solution was to assume that in this particular case, Backwards Bob had his own way of doing things. The problem was easily solved when the realization was that maybe in this unique situation, Backwards Bob should be respected for his individuality.