People Behaving Poorly

Monday, July 28, 2014
You know, the Smart Man and I have a tendency to keep to ourselves. And by that I mean that we're not "joiners." With the exception of my seat on the Library Board of Trustees, we're not really engaged in our community from that perspective, although we do participate in the various human services drives around the County, such as school supply drives, Thanksgiving dinner giveaways, Toys for Tots, Adopt-a-Family, etc. But we really don't want to join. 

And there's a reason for that. People do not know how to act. 

The latest example of this truism occurred yesterday at our local dog park. We like to take Miss Jackson there so she can run herself out several days a week, and up until yesterday, our experiences with other dog owners has been overwhelmingly positive. Yesterday, however, brought quite a few larger dogs to the park, many of whom liked to play roughly. One dog owner thought the play was too rough for her taste, so she put her dog on leash and went for a walk in the open space surrounding the park, instead. That was her prerogative, as the dog park is an public space where you don't get to impose your personal rules on others. The rest of us were keeping a sharper eye on the dogs that remained, though, to ensure things didn't get out of hand. In other words, a normal day at the dog park.

And then a man came in with his dog, a small terrier. As dogs at dog parks do, the remaining dogs crowded around to inspect and greet the newcomer. The other dogs then started to engage in rough play. Well, evidently this owner didn't like the way the larger dogs were ganging up on his terrier, so instead of calling out to the other pet owners to help break it up, he barged into the pack and picked up his dog. The other dogs (of course) were still very much interested in the terrier, so they didn't back off, but were still pushing to get to the terrier. Not in an aggressive way, mind - all their ears were forward, no tails were tucked.

So this guy decides that at this point, his best course of action is to start kicking the larger dogs.

I already had Jax by the collar when this occurred, as I went and collected her when it appeared things were getting too intense for the terrier's owner, and the Smart Man was right behind me. All the other owners converged on the scene as well, pulling their dogs back, to give the man a chance to get his dog away. But apparently we weren't moving fast enough for him, as he continued to kick at the dogs.

One of the dogs that got kicked belonged to a huge man who was at the park with his daughter. He blew his top, charged the guy and pushed him really hard while shouting about the guy kicking his dog. The pusher pushed him hard enough that the kicker fell on the concrete, dropped his dog, and just laid there. I was still holding Jax away from the action, but the other folks crowded around the kicker to make sure he was all right.

The entire incident made me sick to my stomach. While I had empathy for both owners (people who care about their dogs have a tendency to defend them, after all), both of them behaved deplorably. The entire thing made me want to wade in and treat them both like recalcitrant children, and order them to use their words. 

And this, in a nutshell, is why the Smart Man and I have no interest in getting involved with "community" groups. Any time you find yourself in non-self selected groups, there is always going to be members who don't know how to act, and cause conflict and confrontation as a result. I'm required to put up with such shit in a professional context, and I'm well compensated for my trouble. But at the dog park? In the neighborhood? Fuck that. I'll stick with the people who have proven to me that they do know how to act.

People suck.

3 comments:

John the Scientist said...

OMFG. The first consulting gig I had as a B-School student was for the local chapter of the American Red Cross. I generally like that organization, and they do some good work. But a more concentrated selection of military and police wannabees (who generally appeared to have washed out for medical reasons, but I would not eliminate the possibility of psychological ones...) I have never, ever seen in my life. And a larger display of geek-oriented dick measuring I have not seen outside Comic Con or certain chapters of the SCA, or any chapter of MENSA. Fuck me, any normal person would run from that group screaming 30 minutes into their first meeting.

Rick Hamrick said...

Janiece, I discovered your blog thanks to stumbling upon Stonekettle Station for the first time today.

Though I'm in North Carolina now, I consider Colorado to be home. So, it was cool to see you live in Parker. Then, even cooler, to see you are on the library board.

I hope your time overlapped Jamie LaRue's time as director. While I only spent time with him twice, he struck me as a marvelous guy in exactly the right job.

That's all. Just recounting an "it's a small world" little story for you.

Janiece said...

Welcome, Rick.

Jamie retired in January, very shortly after I was appointed. I am familiar with his work, though, as I read his blog for many years, and have been a strong supporter of the Library, as well.