<center><strong>On Being Professional</strong></center>

Vern Tilley loved his job, but his job made it impossible for him to have a social life.  He worked for a prominent dog food company, and he was a very committed dog lover.  His own dog was a rescued Boston terrier named Ralph.  Vern’s profession paid him well enough that he was able to purchase a very nice two bedroom condo on Sand Key beach near Clearwater, Florida.

He had recently been promoted and awarded the title “Professional” to go along with his job description of “Taste-Tester.”  His work included tasting the company’s dog food products, and his hard work had now put him near the top rung of the corporate ladder, with a very nice raise in pay.
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Long before he earned his “Professional” title, Vern had kicked-off his career doing volunteer work at an animal shelter right out of college.  On his own initiative, he experimented with different dog food brands he’d purchase and bring to work at the shelter.  He did this so he could learn what the dogs at the shelter liked and what they didn’t like.<br><br>  

It helped him to develop his own palate for testing commercial dog foods. The CEO himself praised him, and said that the company had essentially employed the world’s first “talking dog” when they hired Vern.

It came as no surprise to Vern when he learned that he was up for promotion to the professional level, after working for the company for just six months.  This was unheard of in the tasting profession.  Attaining the title and accompanying rank generally took years.  Vern’s self-training method had really paid off in providing him the knowledge to become the youngest top expert in his field.

Still, his social life involved playing with Ralph, taking Ralph on walks, snuggling with Ralph, etc.  For more than the past decade, Vern had studied dogs and their eating preferences so thoroughly, he felt that he knew exactly how dogs feel and what they like and dislike; at least as far as food is concerned.  
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Vern had a self-imposed, very strict policy of never getting involved romantically with a co-worker.  He’d think about his “rule” quite often; at times considering new dangers he could add to the narrative, reminding himself of it even though it seemed the rule applied itself outside of work as well.  

He wasn’t dating anyone and had only been on two dates his entire 33 years of being alive.  Vern was known to go  out of his way to inform fellow employees of his rule, and he even offered stories he’d made up, about the *nasty* things that happen to those who dare to get involved in a romantic relationship with a co-worker.
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This time the rule popped up because he’d caught himself gazing at Frieda just then.  Frieda was an attractive girl who worked at the company as a recipe developer.  She reminded Vern of a Corgi, seeing her from behind like that.  Vern worked closely with Frieda at times, developing new recipe options the company would request, but that didn’t happen very often.  Usually, he’d get a finished product for his taste-testing, for which he’d had no involvement in the development process.<br><br>

When he’d find himself thinking about Frieda, his “rule” would pop up in his mind and he’d stop thinking about her immediately.  The rule was an escape mechanism though - to escape from the fact that he was a failure in finding the nerve to ask a girl on a date.  In Vern’s mind, even if they’d say yes, once they knew about his job, they’d dump him.

He knew that his job responsibilities shouldn’t be used against him, but he also realized that most people would be grossed out just *thinking* about eating dog food.  And, he didn’t really eat it – at least not *all* the time.  If he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t swallow it.  It would go into a napkin, then into the trash.

Even though he knew that U.S. federal law requires that commercial pet foods be fit for consumption by humans, he also knew that most people are completely unaware of this fact.  He felt it was just another 
factor working against him in his quest to find romance.
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One day Frieda surprised Vern, when she came to his cubicle and said, “Hey Vern, my sister’s having a pool party this Saturday, and I was wondering if you’d like to come.”  He was dumbfounded.  He’d not expected anything like this – being *asked* on a date by a pretty girl… “I’ve been going around the office asking everyone if they want to come over on Saturday,” she continued.

“Ah yes, Vern thought - I should have known she wasn’t asking me for a date.”  As he thought about the invitation, he decided he’d go, but *only* because he wouldn’t be breaking his rule.  “Sure,” he said.  “What time will people be showing up?”  “Anytime after one is fine, and don’t forget to bring your trunks, and bring Ralph too!”  She handed him a copy of the directions to her sister’s house.

It was near the office in the Talavera community.  He was glad that Frieda said to bring Ralph along.  Ralph liked to swim, and Vern knew he’d enjoy meeting the other dogs that would be there.  He decided he’d get there at 1:30 or so, so it wouldn’t seem like he was *dying* to be there.
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When it was time to leave for Talavera on Saturday, Vern got the leash on Ralph and picked up the two bottles of wine he was bringing to the party, along with cookies and some tasty treats for the dogs attending.  They took the elevator to parking and then off they went in Vern’s Prius.<br><br>

When he arrived at Frieda’s sister’s home there were several cars there already, so Vern felt good about the fact that he’d be seen as being “fashionably late.”  This was another, more minor rule that he lived by.  Of course, he really didn’t get out very often so, like the dating rule, he had ~~rarely~~ never had to put the rule into action prior to attending Frieda’s sister’s party.

As he walked up to the front of the house, a guy that was outside smoking said, “Just go on in the front door.  No need to knock.”  “Thanks,” Vern replied.  After entering, as he looked for Frieda, she came around the corner and greeted him.  She motioned him to follow her. “Come on, and I’ll introduce you to the others,” she said.
 
When they got outside, Frieda showed him where to put everything and then walked him around and introduced him to the other guests already there.  There were about ten at that point, and four of them were co-workers at the company.  Vern was starting to feel more comfortable.  He walked over to get a glass of wine, and after he’d had two sips, he was already a bit tipsy.

Vern wasn’t used to drinking alcoholic beverages, and the wine began interfering with his normal, nerd-like disposition.  He felt like he was on top of the world, and glad that he’d come to the party.

Frieda’s sister announced that the pool was open and there were towels for everyone on a table in the lanai. Vern saw that some guests were in the pool having a great time, so he decided to join in.  He had his trunks on underneath his clothes, so after shedding his clothes, he jumped in.  The water was cool and refreshing.
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He was relaxing on the steps of the pool with Ralph, enjoying his wine, when a girl with long blond hair threw a beach ball but the wind caught it and caused it to hit veer off and hit him on the head.  She apologized, but he didn’t care.  She was beautiful!  She reminded Vern of an Afghan hound.  He said, “Oh, no worries; a beach ball won’t hurt <i>me,</i>” as he grinned ear to ear.<br><br>

The girl introduced herself as Rachel.  When he told her his name’s Vern, she got very excited and said, “You’re the dog food testing guy?  Oh wow, I’ve been wanting to meet you for so long!”  Vern couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  She told him that she’d begun tasting the food that she fed to her Pomeranian for the past year or so after she’d read some of Vern’s research that she’d found in some online articles.

To make a long story short, the two found they had some things in common and by the end of the party, they were like old friends.  Vern even decided to take a chance before leaving, and went for it.  “Hey, would you like to see a movie with me?  There’s a new flick on exotic breeds that’ll be shown at the Clearwater library on Thursday evening.” I could come and pick you up if you’re interested.

“That sounds like a lot of fun.  Sure!  I’d love to go with you,” she said.  She gave Vern directions to her house, and then she gave him a hug before they each headed off for their cars.  Vern couldn’t believe his luck during his drive home, or that he was going to have a date with a beautiful blonde!  Then he reasoned that she must have found him to be irresistible, considering the hug she gave him.

He asked Ralph what he thought about it, and decided that Ralph’s response was a fist bump.

On Sunday, he wished he’d gotten her phone number.  He really would have liked talking to her.  He was so excited about Thursday coming up and his date with Rachel!  Work on Monday seemed like it would never end.  It seemed like someone was pushing the brakes on time.  Tuesday and Wednesday weren’t much better.

Finally Thursday arrived.  The big night was just hours away.  That Thursday morning, Vern had been scheduled to speak on the art of taste-testing as part of the orientation session for four new hires joining the taste-testing team.  When he entered the conference room, he couldn’t believe his eyes.  There sat Rachel, excited, with a big smile and a sweet little wave directed his way.  She was one of the four new hires.  He wanted to die.

<center><h5><i><sub>On Being Professional © free-reign 2019</sub></i></h5></center>
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<h5><sub>Shelter Dog: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/geralt-9301/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=509105">Gerd Altmann</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=509105">Pixabay</a>
Corgi: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/ElfinFox-12605865/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=4267311">Elena Rogulina</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=4267311">Pixabay</a>
Prius: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/Photoman-115455/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=863970">Davgood Kirshot</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=863970">Pixabay</a>
Afghan Hound: Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/825545-825545/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=750640">Katrin B.</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=750640">Pixabay</a></sub></h5>

<h5><sub>If you’d like to write for Drop in the Ocean, write a post about the word of the week, and if you like, you can also attend the online show on Mondays at 7PM – UTC, when posts are presented for discussion.  Visit Buddy Up’s discord server at https://discord.gg/3d5H3K8 if you’d like more information, and/or for attending Monday’s show.</sub></h5>
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