27/12/2024
After almost a year and a half of vending reptile shows 2-3x a month I still don't have it all figured out. There are so many things that I debate with myself on. Last Clarksville show I added another thing to my list to debate on.
Let me set the scene: I had just got out of a 5 day stay at the hospital a week/week and a half before. I was going to the show mostly just to keep my mind occupied with goals and my passion despite how groggy and unmotivated I felt. I get to Clarksville, set my table up, and I'm ready for a good day of educating people. I checked on all my spoods at the beginning of the show, trying to tidy them up some and make sure theyre misted and hydrated for the busy day. This little lady caught my eye. She was ADORABLE. Head tilting and uppies. I was showing her to a previous customer of mine and p**f- she's gone. At first I wasn't worried. "Oh, I'll find her. I always do." Only I didn't. An hour went by, 2, and then it was the end of the show. I kept saying she was probably just in my hair somewhere ( mind you I have thick crazy long dreadlocks and spiders have a field day in my hair, nothing new ). But after several people and times searching I felt devestated. I came home beating myself up about it. I was so distracted by how adorable she was that I let her wind up in an unsafe position, and now over 2 hours away from home. I started debating on never getting spiders out again. It's not worth the risk. But I love what I do, even if I only sell a few or none, I educate people on my passion and can actually change people's perspective!
For the next week, I was beating myself up and going back and forth about where things went wrong. Until 8 days after the show, I was tidying up and going through a stack of bills. And miraculously there she was!!!!! She was no doubt skinny. But she survived an 6 hour show, a 2 hour drive home, and a week avoiding my cats! Thank goodness!
I have decided that she is now staying with me. She since has eaten a roach everytime I offered and has fattened up. A vendor friend has come up with the name Alice, as in Alice in Wonderland. Fitting for a spood was once lost and now found, after a crazy journey.
But I'm still debating- Was this irresponsible of me? Or just a crazy misfortunate accident? I love being able to show people how spoods interact and how personable they can be. But not at the cost of harming another spood.
So this brought up a reminder for me, and I'm hoping you'll agree. We are all human. We make mistakes and we learn and we grow. I don't have the answers but I do have good intentions. Please be patient with me and I'll do my best to reciprocate.
