One Morning, I Brought a Stray Puppy to the Office—Here’s What Happened: I Found the Little Mutt Just Minutes Before Work, He Was Dirty and Scruffy, So I Hid Him in My Office—but He Kept Crawling Out and Whining, Soon Everyone Saw Him. And Then, the Masks My Colleagues Wore Began to Fall: The Friendly, Cheerful Secretary’s Kind Mask Shattered; the Grumpy Cleaner’s Stern Mask Melted into a Smile; the Helpful, Ever-Joking Co-Worker’s Pleasant Mask Slipped Away; and Most Astoundingly, My Strict Boss Softened, Told Me to Take the Pup Home, and Let His Own Mask Drop—At My Feet Lay the Discarded Masks of People I Thought I Knew, and Suddenly I Realised How Little I Truly Knew Those Around Me.

One morning, I brought a stray puppy to work. It just happened that I stumbled upon the little chap five minutes before my shift began. The puppy was filthy and scruffy, clearly the offspring of a mongrel from God knows where. I tried to hide him in the corner of my office, but he kept crawling out and letting out these desperate little whimpers. In the end, it didnt take long before he was spotted by every single one of my colleagues.

Suddenly, I could practically see everyones social masks come tumbling down at my feet.

First there was the ever-cheerful and sociable secretary, Charlotte Smith. Young, witty, always with a perfectly made-up face. Yet, at the sight of the grubby little puppy, her expression contorted in a way Id never seen before. Oliver Thompson! I cant believe youre not disgusted by all this filth! Look what a mess youre making… Her usual bright and friendly demeanour seemed to shatter right then and there, not far from where the happy little rascal was wagging his grime-covered tail.

Then theres Mrs. Dorothy Evans, our cleaner. Always weary, constantly grumbling and a bit short-tempered, an older lady with a tough exterior. Suddenly, her wrinkled face lit up with a beaming smile: Oh my, whos this little tail-wagger? Oliver Thompson, is he business or pleasure? The mask of her usual gruffness lay discarded at my feet, and for the first time I saw a gentle, genuinely kind face.

And of course, my colleague, James Brown. Always helpful, always up for a chat, always ready with a joke and a smile. But that day, he didnt even make it past my office doorway. With a grimace, James declared that stray animals were nothing but filth and disease. At my doorstep, the thin, grimy mask of his usual amicable humour was left behind.

But the one who surprised me most was my boss, Mr. Richard Clark. He was always stern, always dissatisfied, definitely not the type for conversations. But, without a second thought, he simply said, Right, Oliver Thompson… looks like you could do with the day off. Why dont you take that little lad and head home. Some things are more important than work, after all. Just… dont abandon him, will you? Hes a living creature, after all. And, awkwardly removing the mask of the unapproachable manager, he gave us a shy smile before quietly disappearing behind his own door.

There I was, surrounded by the masks of people Id spoken to daily, for years on end. Yet only now did I realise, I knew so little about who these people truly were beneath those masks.

That day taught me: sometimes, it takes the smallest creature to reveal the real faces beneath the ones we wear every day.