From buddy Mon Nov  7 19:06:10 1994
Date: Tue, 1 Feb 1994 14:34:38
Subject: Depressed dog?

        A young man went to pick up his date at her apartment.  She
was not quite ready and suggested he play with her dog handing him a
red rubber ball.  The dog was quite insistent that he play with it
and begged each time he brought the ball back.  The young man began
tossing it to further corners of the room to get a second or two
extra peace from the insistent dog. 
        He began trying to get the ball to go around the corner into
the kitchen then he tried bouncing it into the area behind the couch. 
This was going fine and the dog seemed to like the extra challenge
when the ball hit the corner of a stool and bounced onto the balcony
and over it.  The dog lept over the rail after the ball... on a 12th
floor apartment. 
        The young man looked on in shock as his date came from her
room, took him by the arm and led him from the apartment making idle
chatter about the weather.  They were in the elevator by the time he
could even think to say anything.  He realized that he's allowed the
moment to pass when he should have told her what had happened to her
dog.  Each second pushed it further away. 
        He was distant during dinner, terribly distracted.  He hardly
knew what the play they were watching was about.  In the cab ride
back, he was momentarily in a state of panic but was able to control
himself.  As she put her keys into the lock, he turned to her and
said, "You know, your dog looked sort of depressed."