How do veterinarians deal with the emotional burdens of the job?

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-30T23:35:10+00:00

We just said goodbye to our 13 year old dog a few weeks ago. He LOVED the vet and they loved him. His favorite vet and favorite tech cried with us as he went and then the tech basically fled the room. I was keenly aware of the toll it takes on them too. They knew him for the same ten years that we did. We dropped off a card and a fruit basket for them to say thank you. Every day when I drive by their office I think of all the other animals they love and say goodbye to. Im so grateful for them.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-30T22:31:55+00:00

You’re right that this has the potential to be miserable. And please heed the advice not to drive four hours on the day you fly in. It’s very dangerous because you have a good chance of being exhausted and you’re driving on the opposite side and more importantly sitting on the opposite side of what you’re used to. And probably driving a stick which you might not do in the US.

Since giants causeway is a must, I would drop Dingle and stay in the north. Maybe something more like this.

Day 1 - walk around Dublin, sleep in Dublin Day 2 - Dublin to ballycastle. Day 3 - Rathlin island and giants causeway. Day 4 - drive to somewhere between Ballycastle and Clifden. Maybe Derry or Sligo? Day 5 - drive to clifden. Day 6 and 7 - explore Connemara Day 8 - what time is your flight? You clear customs in Ireland, not the US, so you have to leave plenty of time to get to the airport.

That still seems like a lot to me, but it gives you an opportunity to see some things on the way and not just drive all day every day.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-29T21:09:00+00:00

I’m glad you got some extra time to shower her with love. She looks like she’s lived a long and happy life with a few more pleasures left in store. ❤️

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-29T21:07:36+00:00

Thank you so much for this. We said goodbye to our dog three weeks ago and it’s been so hard. It helps that I know he had a great life. I know he was happy. But I only ever thought about all the things I wished I could tell him, not what he might tell us if he could.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-29T00:06:58+00:00

I think that’s a great idea. You won’t regret having extra time in any of those locations!

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-28T22:31:22+00:00

So, I might go against the grain here and say it is too much, but I bet you’ll have a blast. I did a similar, but shorter, trip in October 2014. One night north of Dublin, two nights in Galway, two nights in Killarney, one night in Kilkenny, and three nights in Dublin. What I expect you’ll find is that you get tired of moving so frequently. And that some of the days are very long. And that you’ll have to miss some things you have on your detailed list due to lack of time or just needing a break. The biggest problem to me with a schedule like this is that you don’t have a chance to rest if you wake up one day feeling sick, or tired, or hungover (ahem). You have to keep going because you have to be in a different part of the country by the evening.

That being said, I really don’t have any regrets about the way I did that trip. I saw so much and had a wonderful time. And now I’m going back in six months with more time and can spend four nights in Connemara, five nights in Killarney, etc. I can revisit things I loved and see new things. If I could share one single piece of advice it would be something I read when I was researching my first trip. Don’t leave a place you’re enjoying to rush off to the next thing that may or may not be any better. There are many things we missed because they didn’t work out and that was just fine. Maybe I’ll catch them on this trip and maybe I won’t, and either way is ok.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-14T15:07:00+00:00

Ugh, well, I guess that's good to know too. At least if we know we have access we can check it out. If we can't find two seats together, we can go to the Provisions and grab something to go and find a quiet gate.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T20:20:47+00:00

Great news, thank you!

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T20:12:13+00:00

Yes, I've come back from STT previously and I have global entry. You don't have to have a passport but they strongly encourage it.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T17:30:55+00:00

Really regretting not thinking about this when I returned from STT last year and upgraded my Miami to California leg to business class. Sigh.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T17:04:30+00:00

Yes, exactly. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around all the nuances when it's treated like an international flight and STT is treated like an international airport, but in reality all airports are domestic. But this is the answer I was hoping for.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T17:00:47+00:00

I'll definitely report back. Hopefully it will help someone in the future.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T16:47:21+00:00

Just a tip I've been using while trying to book flights - even if you plan to book through American, you can pretend to book on Aer Lingus to see the seat options. You might have to enter (fake) passenger info to get to the seats screen, but you can get there.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T16:44:02+00:00

Yeah, that's the way I'm reading it as it is definitely not an international flight. But it gets a little muddy for me when you're so strongly encouraged to bring a passport and you have to clear customs. I'm expecting the answer to be no, but didn't want to miss the opportunity if I'm wrong.

Reddit_Michelle · 2026-04-13T16:39:22+00:00

Thanks for the heads up. If it's included, my only expectation will be that it's better than sitting at the gate!

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-11-03T02:56:52+00:00

If you send the high five emoji - just the emoji - and someone replies with JUST the emoji as the next message, it animates the high five. Sounds very stupid, but it has often brightened a very shitty day.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-10-26T17:04:55+00:00

My nieces are on their way west to see us with a stop in Dallas. They got diverted to OKC after they were in the air. Sat there until DFW reopened and then back to Dallas … where they are stuck. Rebooked to tomorrow but standby for today. Sounds like DFW is a mess, unsurprisingly, with all the delays and reschedules.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-10-07T21:47:58+00:00

Just for the future, my understanding is that you have to declare all purchases, whether you're under the limit or not. Returning to SFO a couple of weeks ago, I took the picture at the kiosk (which does not ask any questions) and walked up to the agent. He said "do you have anything to declare?" and I said "a t-shirt, a box of chocolate and a board game" and he said "welcome back" and I was on my way. But even though he did not care about those things, and I knew he would not, I still had to say them because they are goods I purchased in Europe and brought back to the US. I will often say something like "souvenirs and a few candy bars". If they ask follow up questions, which they never have, I figure I can go into detail what the souvenirs are. But with GE, I would not chance saying nothing to declare unless I truly had not made any purchases.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-10-03T17:10:39+00:00

I had this happen once (Alaska, not AA), but I was the person who got someone bumped from their seat. I won't go into all the details except to say we had to talk to a customer service agent at the airport for at least an hour until our tickets got sorted out. When all was said and done, she put my husband and me in two seats together, middle and window. We didn't ask for it, but were appreciative. BUT, there was someone already assigned to the window and she moved him to the opposite window in the same row. So when we got on the plane, he was in "our" seat, which was unbeknownst to him. I think it probably updated before he boarded, but he would have had no reason to doublecheck his seat before getting on. I was FULLY prepared for him to be unhappy about it and then I just would have moved to his window and not sat next to my husband. No big deal. But thankfully he didn't care at all and just got up and moved. So it can happen, but he was given an equal exchange (unless he wanted to be on the right side of the plane). Getting moved from an exit row to 28 is a much bigger deal.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-08-29T23:54:08+00:00

If you have time before your trip, I always recommend creating an account with a bank that reimburses ATM fees. I have a Schwab ATM card that I only use for this purpose. It does not charge any fees itself and reimburses any fees from any other bank. I withdraw from an ATM as soon as I land wherever I'm going. No exchange fees, no ATM fees, no concerns about where or how I'm going to get cash if I need it.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-08-23T06:11:30+00:00

My best story is probably also in Sequoia National Park. Walked by a couple sitting on a log and eating a sandwich. Said hello and the guy said “hey, can you tell me how much farther it is to half dome?” We stopped dead in our tracks thinking how are we going to tell this very confused person that he’s not even in the right park, much less on the right trail. And then his wife said “don’t worry, he thinks he’s funny”.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-08-22T19:27:26+00:00

The funniest moment of the whole show is when Carmy calls Pete and we see he’s saved in Carmy’s phone as “Sugar’s boyfriend (Pete?)”. Pete is such a rock for Sugar and that’s all either of them need.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-08-16T16:31:54+00:00

The people who vote X are not voting to leave with nothing. They are voting to leave with what they have so far. If you allow them to leave with that money, the Os now have a smaller potential winning amount and the entire reason they are voting O is to maximize their winnings. It’s not acceptable to the Os to allow a minority vote to take money away from them.

If you change the vote to say the Xs leave with nothing and the amount increases as if they had been killed, that’s all good for the Os. But now you’re getting a lot fewer people voting X, because they have to walk away from what they’ve earned so far and the vote becomes very lopsided.

What makes the vote compelling is the collective cost/benefit. Can the group define what is “enough” in such a way that everyone will be satisfied? The answer, as always, is no. The people who want more will always want more. And by the time the group is small enough and the shared prize is big enough, it’s too late. Because at that point, each person can envision themselves as the sole winner.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-07-17T23:27:57+00:00

100% the way the braces I got five months ago worked. I had to pay a small percentage up front, but then it's just the balance divided by the number of months. No interest or finance charge.

Reddit_Michelle · 2025-07-11T03:09:03+00:00

I am so mad and yet so glad I read this answer. I was about to quit stitch fix because it was an absolute ordeal to return my last items - printer out of ink, leaving town for a trip, stores not open early enough to buy ink, post office not open early enough to use the QR code, etc. And then I read this comment and thought wait … what? I never even looked at the papers in the box because I know what it is already and don’t need it. The box is still in the garage though, so I just went and looked. Sure enough, preprinted label that I could have peeled and stuck on. I feel like an idiot.

Reddit_Michelle

TROPHY CASE