I used to work in a coffee shop that had one of those water bowls for dogs and also a small jar of treats on the counter which we’d occasionally give to some of the dogs whose owners brought them in regularly while getting their morning cup of coffee. The dogs would sit there near the tables and their owners would chat for a while, etc.

We had one customer who was an older gentleman who tipped poorly and was often gruff and irritable when ordering his coffee. He hated dogs. He’d speak way too loudly and those of us behind the counter, and we’d always joke about the irony that this man who hated dogs so much had pretty strong dog breath.

One day it was raining out and he comes in and orders his coffee. He’s impatiently drumming his fingers on the counter and harshing all of our moods. His impatient movements caught the attention of one of the dogs, which started sniffing around the man’s rear end like there’s no tomorrow. The man got miffed each time it happened, and my coworker intentionally slowed down the preparation of his coffee to prolong his agony. The man sternly said “down” a few times but the dog’s attention had been piqued and his owner was in the restroom or something.

The dog was getting more amped up and wagging its tail big time. The man reached down to grab its collar to pull it away from his seat and next thing we all knew he’d slid onto the floor on his back, he must have slipped in a puddle from someone’s umbrella or something.

So this dog that was sniffing him comes up and starts licking up and down the man’s face like it’s made of tapioca. We all start laughing and my coworker points out that the man seems unable to stand up. The dog’s leash, tied to a chair, had become tangled in the man’s legs and so when he tried to stand the dog would arch his back and keep licking away.

We noticed that the dog was licking around the man’s mouth, on his lips, etc., and the man was in sort of a rage. We were a bit immature at the time and let this go on for about five minutes, during which time the dog got even more amped up and started barking loudly, making the four other dogs in the cafe start barking too.

Finally, one of the other customers, a nice older lady, helped him up. He looked so ashamed of what had happened. We got some great pics of the incident and put one of them on the register.

We did lose him as a customer after that but nobody really cared. We found out later that he was a decorated war hero and his walks to get coffee in our shop were the one thing he still enjoyed in his old age.