Pet Peeves - No Pun Intended
I’m trying to get in the holiday spirit, but for the past week or so I’ve been harboring ill will for a blond-haired woman I’ve never talked to and probably never will.
I don’t think she lives in my neighborhood, but she might. The incident I’m going to tell you about happened on the street behind mine.
Here’s the deal…
I was taking my daily dreaded walk. It was a sunny but cold day. I was on the home stretch.
I’d just passed the house where Griffen, a beautiful bouncy barky dog lived. He greeted me as usual, running along the lawn but not crossing onto the sidewalk.
I called out a greeting to him, then sauntered past. My thoughts were focused on home just like the trail horse that knows the barn is just a short distance away.
As I passed a driveway loaded with minivans and SUVs, a big brown fluffy dog came running toward me. I turned to greet him as I had Griffen, but he didn’t look like he wanted to be friends. The blond woman called to him, but he kept coming toward me. I turned my back and raised my arms.
The woman called again–she was holding a matching dog by the collar–but he ignored her.
The dog jumped at my back and I stumbled. I recovered without falling and braced myself for another attack. But the dog had had his fun and he was happily rejoining his mommy and twin.
Now here’s what gets me mad.
I turned to accept her apologies and assure her I was all right, but she never even looked at me. She never asked me if I was okay. All she did was scold her “bad puppy” in that annoying baby voice that people use to reprimand their pets.
I shook my head and continued my walk home. When I hung up my coat I noticed big paw prints on the back of it.
I know, I need to get over it. I wasn’t hurt. I don’t suddenly have this irrational fear of big dogs…
And after all… tis the season to be jolly… fa la la la la…
So, in the spirit of giving, I offer a special holiday wish for this woman… May she receive many unexpected (open-mouthed) doggy breath kisses, chocolate-covered shoes, and liquid surprises under her Christmas tree.
November 30th, 2006 at 9:17 am
Wow, this post and the one about class reunions are kind of negative — something which I hadn’t found in your writing before. What’s wrong?
December 2nd, 2006 at 5:57 am
I totally understand where you are coming from. The other day when I was getting out of my truck at Walmart, this lady pulls up beside me, passes to the spot behind me, gets out and starts yelling at me to be more careful. I don’t even know where she came from. I had been parked for a few minutes and don’t remember seeing her anywhere near where I had been. My first response was to get all defensive, but then I remembered why I was at Walmart in the first place, to shop for Christmas. So, I just said to myself, “Merry Christams to you too lady, I hope you have a good day.” I know this is not the same thing, but sometimes people just make you wonder. Like when they stand in the middle of the isle taking the whole thing up and see that your waiting to go by but they just don’t move. Or when your walking down a corridor on you own side, and people are walking toward you and they don’t move making you squish to the side like Gumby because they must feel they are just so much more important than you are. All I can say is, I’d rather be the more considerate person than the one who is totally full of themselves.