WACKOS AT THE LAUNDRY ON MOTHERS DAY! CAN THERE REALLY BE PEOPLE IN A BIG CITY SO STUPID?

Recently, on MOTHERS DAY, a non event for me personally since my own mother has passed away, I went to do laundry.  Earlier in the day a couple other dog people (I try not to say owners) wished me HAPPY DOGGY's MOTHER DAY!   I said Thank You!

I wouldn't usually go to do laundry on a Sunday but news that we'd be going through another heat streak (while it snows elsewhere in May) was motivation enough.  Anything to beat the heat and be indoors.  Plus, I expected it to be vacant.

We got there and it was strangely packed with women and children.  I thought the Mothers would have the day off, perhaps be Queens for the Day, as their children spoiled them a little and gave them gifts and did the chores.   There they were doing massive loads of laundry including lots of children's clothes. 

Since my dog is not allowed inside the laundry I usually tether her outside in the shade while I load the washers and dryers and then walk her between loads.  There were some nice children who wanted to pet her and so I sat outside with her and supervised.  Soon another woman with a small child who she said was her Grandson came outside too and this Grandson was undisciplined and screeching and seemed to want to play too rough with my dog while the other children were so gentle.  I determined that I would not got inside while this troubled child was outside.  I felt that, though he might only be 3 or 4 years old, he was probably having some emotional problem. I didn't want him to smack my dog around.

The Grand Mom was a young Grand Mom.  She seemed to have supreme patience with this child or maybe she just ignored his bad behavior.  Now if I had children, which I don't and won't, they would be raised up and raised rights.  No brats for me.  Other people's brats are enough!

The Grand Mom got to talking to me.  Right in front of her Grandson and the other, gentle, children, children who belonged to other mothers, she started talking about some man she met on Craig's List.  She wanted my opinion, that being the opinion of a stranger, granted another woman.

She said that she had put a picture of herself up and it was only of her legs and feet.

Hmmm.

A man had contacted her and asked her if she had any stockings for sale.

You may be able to leap frog to the rest.  The woman had agreed to meet him at the gas station across from the laundry with a bag of her underwear, socks, stockings, and shoes "the more the heels are run down the better," he said, and sell these to him for $200. 

She wanted to know what I thought.

Now I may not be a Mother, but I have some strong opinions about raising children, and like many of us NMNK, there are those who have given birth who believe that because we haven't we are NOT ALLOWED to have any opinions about it.  At this point I was thinking "Lady, does it even bother you that you are talking about this to me in front of other people's children?"  The two boys who were out there because they wanted to play with my dog, ages about 3 and 9, were just listening.

I told her that she needed to be very careful, that if she was going to go ahead with this then she should take someone with her to meet him, preferably a man, and that she should then drive somewhere else but not directly home.  WHY WOULDN'T THIS PERVERT (a very not politically correct word!) not want a relationship with the woman who was selling her used undies to a man who would SMELL THEM?

She didn't have to say openly what this man was going to do with them but she did say "you know how some people like to get off when they're..." and did a hand gesture!

Really, she sounded intelligent but how stupid can someone be?  (I've had the experience of simply being friendly to a man only to learn later that he had an entire fantasy life developed about me, just because he wasn't aware I was involved with someone else!)

She then said she thought it would be OK because she planned to go to a thrift store to buy other people's underwear and shoes to hand over to him, as if he would be a repeat customer!

When I got home I realized this was BS.  They don't sell shoes that are smelly or very run down in thrift stores, nor do they sell worn undies.

Luckily she left, and the 9 year old boy looked at me.

I shook my head and so did he! 

"That lady had better be careful, I said."

As she was leaving the laundry I said, "Be careful.  Hopefully this is just an adventure."

She and her brat Grandson left and later I realized that maybe I should have stopped her from talking in front of the children!

A STAY AT HOME THANKSGIVING - ME AND MY RECENTLY ATTACKED DOG

Maybe it's because these days it's not uncommon to eat turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and green beans any time of the year, when you have a taste for it, but I'm in no mood for THANKSGIVING.

A few days ago I felt up for it, but now I want to stay home with my dog.

What happened to change my mind or my mood?

My dog, a small dog, was attacked while we were on an early morning walk by a big black dog, a dog unleashed.

As we approached the usual cross over from cement to wood chips, an area my dog gets stickies on from time to time and so goes cautiously on, I noticed the dogs were looking at each other and appeared stalled.  I attributed my dog's caution to wanting to survey the area and go slow over it, so I continued and she followed.  Suddenly the big black dog was upon her and since she was leashed she couldn't get away.  She tried to duck as he growled and tried to chew up her snout and head.  I was screaming out loud!  The owner of the black dog called him off to no avail.  I pushed the big black dog away, fearless in the moment, which was a little crazy.  He went for another round at her. Finally he pulled her away.  This big black dog had hatred in its eyes.

"There's a leash law in this town and a $1200 fine for having your dog off leash for starters, " I said.  Your dog wanted to maul my dog and kill her.  She's small and timid.  She doesn't defend herself.  She has a hard time imagining anyone - any dog - wouldn't like her."

The man seemed quiet and maybe remorseful.

I checked for wounds and blood and miraculously saw none.  I like to think that the big black dog got mostly her long hair in its mouth.

No I didn't get his ID etc.  I don't know him or where he lives.  (Only later by description did I realize that this may be the man who the neighborhood is looking for, a man with a big dog that never bends to pick up his dog's shit!)

I picked up my dog and walked her about 30 feet and then set her back down to walk home.  At home I put her under the bed covers with me.  She seemed OK.  I hoped what they say is true, that a dog is forgetful, but within the hour she had thrown up on the carpet.  It was nerves - trauma.  Her little body holds this memory.

I had to leave her for the day.

Later, after talking to a friend who has three dogs smaller than mine, I decided to take her advice and feed my dog baby food incase her stomach was upset.  Indeed it was.  For a week she'd ignored the wheatgrass I have planted on the doorstep in a pot.  Now she was avid to eat the wheatgrass.  She ate only half a jar of the beef baby food puree and then snuggled right next to me in bed.

It's my turn to try and cry out the inner hysteria I felt when unthinkingly trying to rescue her from attack.  I've been on the verge of tears since, angry, and scared.

What if she had been mauled and this owner had run off and instead of having her next to me she was DEAD?  What if I'd had to put her asleep?

So I am THANKFUL that I have my dog alive and well.