Thoughts

Dog owners,

This is a quick letter in an effort to understand your mentality. Some things I am ok with; dogs smell - you get a candle or a can of air freshener, dogs shed - you get a vacuum, dogs bark - you sleep with ear plugs. There are many different complaints people may have with dog ownership that have relatively simple solutions. One, however, I cannot get past.

This morning on my way to work, as usual, I passed many early risers out for a walk with their dog. One in particular caught my eye as this one gentlemen was carrying a plastic grocery bag at arm's length from his body as he walked. This man had apparently fed his golden retriever a small child the night before.

Here he is. Walking innocently down the sidewalk with his dog on a leash as he is well within his rights to do, carrying this package. It looks like he cleaned up for a bear or maybe a small elephant, not his dog. And maybe it wasn't a small child he fed his dog, but an incredible amount of Thai food perhaps. The way he held that thing I was weary that men in biohazard suits would come and disarm the man and dispose of the remains as if they were containing a leak from a nuclear reactor.

I guess it must be a sign of affection if you are willing to walk a mile or more whilst carrying your dog's byproduct as if it is perfectly natural to do so. That is one activity that will always separate me from you dog lovers/owners.

I do salute the man for his clean up efforts, however. Too often many dog owners do not fulfill their responsibility to throw that plastic bag inside out over their hand and enjoy a level of intimacy with dog poop I hope to never experience. I am able to walk in the grass unafraid of in what I may step because of men like this. And for that I am grateful, just don't expect to see me rush out to clean up after your dog.

So yeah, maybe I will get a goldfish...