One of the jobs of a mediator is to provide a “reality check”; to be a neutral, dispassionate third party, who can be objective and discuss with a party the “downside” or “adverse consequences” to her side of dispute. The goal is to have that party accept what is being said and to act accordingly.
To be the one giving the “reality check” is one thing; to be the receiver of it, is quite another. My recent experience gave me a profound respect for those to whom I must be the “bearer of bad news.”
How did it come about that I received my own “reality check”? Wesley- an English Springer Spaniel whom we adopted on November 4, 2012 due to Argus’ passing – provided it.
Wesley was a handsome Springer. Unfortunately, what we knew about him was sparse. He had been turned into the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter on September 26, 2012 by someone who claimed they could not afford him. They had had him about 10 months and listed his age as about 6 years old. That was his whole history; nothing was known about his first five years of life.
