Why are people so high strung? And is it just me, or are all these high strung people getting themselves extremely and unnecessarily worked up over the most pointless things? This morning for example, Dan and I were walking our dog Bella to 7-11 as we do every morning to get coffee. Our adorable dog took a dainty little pooh in the grass next to the street and as soon as she was done, we immediately picked it up using one of the convenient doggy pooh bags that we purchase and carry with us at all times....
We have a strict "Never Leave It" policy when it comes to our dog's poop, and in the few times we've reached the end of the roll and been caught without a bag, we always announce loudly into the air to whomever might be watching that we'll return soon to pick up the poop. AND THEN WE ALWAYS DO. Because there is nothing worse then stepping in dog pooh, except maybe stepping in human barf, and because we are responsible and caring dog owners who find it incredibly rude and disgusting when others do not clean up after their dogs.
Back to this morning...
As we continued on towards the store, carrying the tidy sealed bag containing a thumb sized piece of poop, we came across a dumpster outside of one of the apartment buildings near ours. Dan, being considerate and responsible, threw this tiny bag of poop into said dumpster and quietly closed the lid. You should know that this dumpster is on the street, and zero trespassing needed to occur in order for Dan to be able to dispose of the poop bag. As we walked away we heard an hispanic man call after us.
"Excuse me, let me ask you something please?" he said.
We stopped and turned around, thinking this man might need directions or some help carrying something from his truck into his house.
"Yes, how can we help you?" Dan said.
"Do me a favor, do not put your bag into this garbage."
"What? Why not?"
"Just do not do it. I am asking you nicely."
"Yes you are, but we'd like to understand why not. Would you rather we leave the dog poop in your grass? Because if we don't throw it into the garbage, that seems to be our only option." I tried to keep the situation from escalating, because this is the sort of thing that Dan HATES.
"Just do not do it. Ok? There are cameras and we'll catch you."
"First of all, there are no cameras so thanks for lying right to our faces, and second, what are they going to see me doing? Throwing some garbage into a garbage can? Are you the garbage police??!" Dan was getting upset.
"I asked you nicely," the man yelled, "Now please don't do it!"
"No. We can't promise that. It doesn't make any sense, and you still haven't told us why, so stop being crazy and worrying about garbage!!!"
I have spent a good portion of my life dealing with people like this. People that get very worked up about the small things. I can only imagine what his problem really is, and I can't help but picture him just sitting in his apartment, fuming over the occasional neighbor using his dumpster to -GASP- throw something away. WHY does he care?!?! Is it that he thinks the garbage will stink if one teeny bag tied in a knot containing a small amount of poop sits in it? Guess what? GARBAGE STINKS. Is is that he's concerned that he pays a monthly fee of around $4.00 for his garbage service and that somehow we are stealing from him? Guess what? He shares a building with 10 other units! There's countless bags of trash in this dumpster that do not belong to him. I suppose I could understand if we had to walk through his building or up the driveway to use the dumpster. Guess what? WE DON'T! IT'S ON THE STREET.
This sort of thing just baffles me. Instead of appreciating a neighbor actually caring and not leaving feces all over the neighborhood (as so many of our neighbors actually do) this little man could only see the bad in the situation, and couldn't even use his words to explain the logic behind what his complaint was. I can't guarantee that we would have agreed not to use his dumpster even if he had explained his reasons, but we sure would have considered it.
A garbage can is for garbage, and I promise you anytime anyone wants to throw something away into my can rather than litter it on the ground, I will be the first to thank them for doing so.
Back to this morning...
As we continued on towards the store, carrying the tidy sealed bag containing a thumb sized piece of poop, we came across a dumpster outside of one of the apartment buildings near ours. Dan, being considerate and responsible, threw this tiny bag of poop into said dumpster and quietly closed the lid. You should know that this dumpster is on the street, and zero trespassing needed to occur in order for Dan to be able to dispose of the poop bag. As we walked away we heard an hispanic man call after us.
"Excuse me, let me ask you something please?" he said.
We stopped and turned around, thinking this man might need directions or some help carrying something from his truck into his house.
"Yes, how can we help you?" Dan said.
"Do me a favor, do not put your bag into this garbage."
"What? Why not?"
"Just do not do it. I am asking you nicely."
"Yes you are, but we'd like to understand why not. Would you rather we leave the dog poop in your grass? Because if we don't throw it into the garbage, that seems to be our only option." I tried to keep the situation from escalating, because this is the sort of thing that Dan HATES.
"Just do not do it. Ok? There are cameras and we'll catch you."
"First of all, there are no cameras so thanks for lying right to our faces, and second, what are they going to see me doing? Throwing some garbage into a garbage can? Are you the garbage police??!" Dan was getting upset.
"I asked you nicely," the man yelled, "Now please don't do it!"
"No. We can't promise that. It doesn't make any sense, and you still haven't told us why, so stop being crazy and worrying about garbage!!!"
I have spent a good portion of my life dealing with people like this. People that get very worked up about the small things. I can only imagine what his problem really is, and I can't help but picture him just sitting in his apartment, fuming over the occasional neighbor using his dumpster to -GASP- throw something away. WHY does he care?!?! Is it that he thinks the garbage will stink if one teeny bag tied in a knot containing a small amount of poop sits in it? Guess what? GARBAGE STINKS. Is is that he's concerned that he pays a monthly fee of around $4.00 for his garbage service and that somehow we are stealing from him? Guess what? He shares a building with 10 other units! There's countless bags of trash in this dumpster that do not belong to him. I suppose I could understand if we had to walk through his building or up the driveway to use the dumpster. Guess what? WE DON'T! IT'S ON THE STREET.
This sort of thing just baffles me. Instead of appreciating a neighbor actually caring and not leaving feces all over the neighborhood (as so many of our neighbors actually do) this little man could only see the bad in the situation, and couldn't even use his words to explain the logic behind what his complaint was. I can't guarantee that we would have agreed not to use his dumpster even if he had explained his reasons, but we sure would have considered it.
A garbage can is for garbage, and I promise you anytime anyone wants to throw something away into my can rather than litter it on the ground, I will be the first to thank them for doing so.
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