Recently, Person A called me crying - her dog suddenly lost the ability to stand up.
She wants to know what she should do. She went for a routine review this morning, the dog was fine then.
Dilemma 1: I am not her attending vet anymore.
Dilemma 2: I did not SEE the dog physically, I don't know how "fine" the dog really was this morning... maybe there was really some tell tale signs not picked up.
Dilemma 3: If I intervene, I will offend a lot of people.
But Person A was really upset.
I called up a few people and advised her to bring the dog back for a check.
Then I did the unthinkable: I told her that I will meet her there.
Now... the moment I hung up, a million negative thoughts ran through my mind.
I have one particular workmate in mind - I don't want to bulldoze my way (as I sometimes do) and dent her confidence.
"HANDLE WITH CARE" was flashing red through my mind.
Empathy - not always good.
A few people said: "You didn't have to do that. It's not your problem anymore. Why help them?"
A few people hinted: "You got ulterior motive right?"
A few people advised: "Let go lah... they will not appreciate you.. so much trouble.. waste petrol and time?"
So.. how real are "we", really?
I don't know.
I don't minister to the dog. She hates me anyway because I poked her too many times in the past (I saw her rolled her eyes at me once, sort of).
I "act" because of a deep calling.
I don't measure every action.
Yet I am most probably not as "real" as I would like to be.
Complicated. Thinking too much, perhaps.