A Dove Saves a Dog

Adapted from a letter to the Chairman on Sept. 30, 1998

I barely made my flight home yesterday, but I did make it. After finishing my Wall Street Journal, I told my seatmate to help himself. He said, “No thanks, I have to finish this book about dogs. Our dog is old and my wife wants to have it put down. I don’t want to, but I don’t know. I thought reading this book might help me decide.” The book’s title was Dogs Never Lie About Love. I didn’t catch the author’s name.

After about an hour the dog owner turned to me and asked if I’d heard what the Federal Reserve had done that day. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 2:45 p.m. I told him what we did and introduced myself. I also told him it was public by now. He introduced himself as an ob-gyn at Southwestern Medical School in Dallas. He went back to his dog book and I reviewed the Dallas Fed’s 1999 budget. It’s tight, you know.

I told him I had a CD by Saffire: The Uppity Blues Women that had a song called “Ob-gyn Why Me Blues.” I offered to tape it for him if he wished. He did. Neither of us had a card, but I gave him my number.

As we were landing, I asked my new friend if I could have a vote on the dog. He said I could. I said, “Let it live.” He said that made it two to one.

I wasn’t able to save the world financial system yesterday, but I did save a dog. If my friend was destined to sit by one of the 12 Fed presidents yesterday, I figure his dog had about one chance in 12 of surviving the week. He lucked out.

About the Author Bob McTeer is president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.