The Pondering Absurdist

… really, I do. This post is not about animals, it’s about their humans.

At what point did it become socially acceptable to just march one’s dog right through the front door of the grocery store? For gawds sake people, we have rules about sanitary habits for a reason. Grocery stores contain FOOD, the one thing that humans need a (clean) source of for survival. What if your cute little mutt smells something that makes them want to lift their leg and pee, or hey, they decide that they need to leave a nice, wet, stinky pile of shit right next to the deli counter? Then, oops… the next shopper over has a rambunctious toddler who happens to be running right past and slips in the pile and falls? I could go on with further imaginary scenarios occurring to or happening because of the little tike, but I think my point is made.

My mother used to carry her little rat-on-a-leash into stores and it drove me batshit crazy. I think my photo was posted right next to the word “embarrassed” in the dictionary for a while. Thankfully (?) both she and my dad are gone now, so my picture disappeared shortly thereafter. That said, at least her dog was small enough that if you didn’t look closely you might have missed it, and she always carried it, rather than letting it walk around on a leash. I have seen people walking dogs as big as German Shepherds through Home Depot, and let me tell you, that whole “stinky” scenario wasn’t just a hypothetical situation. Tonight’s episode that sparked this whole post was someone walking a poodle or terrier sized dog into Walmart as I was walking out with my cart full of FOOD. People, you really can’t leave the poor pooch alone at home for a few minutes while you do your shopping?

Again, I don’t blame the animals. They have no control over where their humans take them. I blame the humans who don’t have enough consideration for their fellow humans to leave their dogs at home where they belong. What if there is a “little old lady” shopping in the store who is deathly afraid of dogs? Or, can you imagine walking a dog through the door at Macys, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, in or other “high end” stores? What would happen there? They would chase your ass right back out of the store and onto the street… and those stores only sell clothes and household items, not FOOD! If you can’t do it at Macys, then you shouldn’t be doing it at Walmart either.

Part of the problem might come down to the fact that the people who work in Walmart and Home Depot might be the type who would take their own dogs into a store, regardless of the possibility that someone might be allergic to dogs, or that there might be FOOD in the store. So, they don’t say anything to the people bringing dogs into their store. Or, maybe they’re afraid they’ll be sued if they complain to the customer, who is “always right.” I can’t be certain, of course, and I wouldn’t want to stereotype anyone, especially in this litigious society.

People! Please… leave your dogs at home.

PA