It’s a beautiful day! Sunny, breezy, open-the-windows-and-air-out-the-house weather. I am loving it! So is SiriDog. I clip on her leash and off we go into the tame green yonder that is our apartment complex. Lots of other people are walking their dogs, too. This is one of the few truly pet friendly complexes in the area. We have a fenced in dog park, a few wooded areas for exploring, and doggie waste stations scattered around the property. Basically, short of being able to let your dog run loose on your own property, it’s as good as it gets. So it really bothers me when people are irresponsible. Like the lady today.

She has what appears to be some sort of pitty mix. They are walking on the other side of the street from us. Her dog  assumes the log-drop stance and leaves his present. I notice she has no bags, so i yell across, “Do you need a bag? I have plenty.”

“No,” she replies, “I’m fine.” She starts to walk away leaving the dukey behind.

“No,” I tell her, “It’s really NOT fine. We have to pick up our poop.”

“Easy for you to say. You have a small dog!”

“Listen, sweetheart, if you didn’t want to pick up big dumps you shouldn’t have gotten a big dog!” I walk over and give her a bag.

She huffs and puffs, but picks up the poo and tosses it in the waste station.

This isn’t the first time i’ve had this conversation. It happens a lot. People can be very lax on their dogkeeping if they think no one is looking. Which means anyone out walking can end up with dirty shoes if they aren’t looking. And i’ve had it.

Where have all the manners gone? Forget the fact that (regardless of the party) we are about to elect bombastic rhetoric to be our leader. Forget poverty and corporate greed and environmental ruin. Forget homelessness and hunger and riots and war. As Heinlein once wrote, “Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners,  is more significant than a riot.” In his view, and mine, a sick culture has riots and war, but a dying culture is identified by an absence of common courtesy. Leaving your dog’s excrement for others to step in definitely falls into that category.

And not for nothing, using the excuse that your dog leaves bigger logs than mine…. Well, as i said, it was your choice to buy a big dog. The fact that you weren’t astute enough to realize that big dogs make big shit is fairly unbelievable. The blame is squarely on you. You were not victimized by a dog shelter. They never promised you a dog that didn’t poop, or a poop scooping fairy that would clean up after the dog for you. You knew. You just don’t care enough about your fellow man to do what’s right.

Now before anyone starts warning me about my blood pressure or saying that it’s just poop… Well, if a person won’t do anything as easy as picking up after their dog, what is the likelihood that they will do the harder things, like reducing their footprint, or promoting peace, or raising responsible children? Pretty close to nil, i’d wager.

So there you have it. Our society and it’s path to destruction, represented iconically by a pile of dog crap in the middle of a manicured lawn.

I do have hope, tho. Not all of us are discourteous. And we raise our children to be responsible. We want to make the world a better place for ourselves, each other, and the future. I see good things every day. Young people holding doors for the elderly; the elderly giving positive attention to the young. People giving food to the homeless; the homeless reaching out to those in even worse circumstances. Boys’ and girls’ groups cleaning up rivers and roadways. Church and social groups doing regular turns at soup kitchens. Whole foods has fruit and healthy snacks at the front of their store for children to take. Heck, my tattoo artists keep extra bottles of water and sodas for the less fortunate who stay nearby. Things like this abound.  Would that they will spread. I pray they will. And overshadow the poop.

Because, lets face it, there will always be dog shit. We just have to pick up as much as we can or we risk us all slipping in it.