My Office Buddies – Norman Transcription

by Joanna Norman

Let me introduce my co-workers. I work from home and love it, and I am also lucky enough to have several office buddies. They are THE BEST co-workers because they are usually totally quiet, unless they are snoring, and they encourage me to take frequent stretch breaks by asking for my attention periodically throughout the day.

Red Fancy Betta Fish swimming to the right

First up is Mr. Cat. Mr. Cat doesn’t do much other than eat once a day, but he makes me smile quite often and gives my eyes a rest from the computer screen.

White faced yellow lab laying on a green pillow with a black poodle curled up on a second green pillow behind the lab

Next we have Patty Pickle and Arlo. Patty is a seven year old yellow labrador retriever who I raised as a Guide Dog Puppy. She was “career-changed” because of a medical issue and became my pet. She is a very lazy co-worker who rarely lifts her head off my (!) pillow while I’m working at my desk. Behind her is Arlo. He is a 13ish year old rescue mini poodle. He used to bark all the time, but now he is older, more mature, and deaf, so he doesn’t hear much that he feels he needs to bark about. He often serves as a lap warmer on cold days. He has terrible breath, though. I’m not sure what the etiquette is when your office-mate apparently has poor oral hygiene?

Yellow Lab curled in a tight ball in a small round dog bed

Meet Tera, a two year old yellow lab, who usually spends her day curled up in the poodle’s dog bed. She is a Guide Dog Puppy in Training that I am currently co-raising. Because of delays in training due to the pandemic, Tera has been my office buddy for much longer than expected. She is here in my home office every other week. She is extremely well-behaved in our little workplace. She is leaving soon to go back to Guide Dogs for her formal training and will be dearly missed.

Golden Retriever puppy laying down with her tongue out

Lastly, on the weeks that Tera isn’t hanging around the office, Fate, a 11-month old Golden Retriever Lab cross is here. She is also a Guide Dog Puppy in Training. She is the most distracting of my colleagues. There’s one in every workplace, right? Fate would often rather be playing than working or even sleeping. She’s one of the co-workers who interrupts your concentration by making noises, often with a toy in her mouth acting as a megaphone! Give her time, she’s still a puppy.

If you are working from home, do you have any office buddies, animal or human, or vegetable, for that matter? If so, tell me about your co-workers in the comments below. Include a photo if you want – I’d love to “meet” them!

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