Oh, geez, I so don't want to go there - or here - a daily "piss off." Because I CAN DO IT and I may JUST HAVE TO! And, really, I don't want to, but I must...
Yesterday it was the Commissary for not having any U.S. meat, or bags of salad, or low-fat milk. I can live with most of that - we'll eat fish, I'll pay a small fortune for lettuce and I'll just add ice to the milk and dilute it with water. Not my preference, but I can do it.
Today is different, though. It is a REAL "piss off." And I can't blame Ramadan or Muslims for today. Nope. Westerner's! We just got back from our morning jaunt. I'm so pissed off I headed straight from our walk to the computer to vent. I'm gross. My feet are covered with "reclaimed" water [not difficult to figure out what "reclaimed" water is, is it?], and dust. I am sweaty. It is really quite humid out - and a hundred degrees! I'll take my shower when I'm done.
What pissed me off so much this morning? I'll tell you: Dog poop. Lots and lots of dog poop. Assholes! You know who you are!!! No one wants to clean up after your Kids! No one. And it is no one else's responsibility. The workers that are here keeping our compound clean don't want to have to scoop it up. Believe me, they are not in any way prepared to do so with little bags or pooper scoopers. And I'm not going to clean up after YOUR Kids, either. It is one thing to clean up after mine - which I do - and believe it is MY responsibility to do so. [We do not leave the house for our morning jaunts without FOUR bags. We may not need all four bags, but at least I am prepared if I do!] It's like changing someone else's kid's diaper. You don't mind changing the diaper of your own kid, but you are not especially thrilled about changing someone else's, right?
Must we go through this on a yearly basis? If I see you letting your Kid take a crap on someone's yard, I am going to whip out my little phone and take a picture of you and your four-legged Kid. After I snap your "family" photo, I am going to make it clear that YOU NEED TO CLEAN THAT UP, NOW! Then I am going straight to the Kennel Club with the picture to report you. I will haunt you every morning that I am out there walking. If I recognize you from one morning to the next, I am going to follow you for your entire walk to make sure that you are not doing it regularly. [Asian woman with the big hat and white fluff ball, you know that I will hunt you down and make a "stink" about your not taking responsibility for your four-legged Kid! I've been here for over five years and you and I have our share of run-ins!!! I have chased you. I have much longer legs than you and even with a bad knee I can catch you. My two Kids are only more than happy to oblige me when I say, "let's go get her and Toto, too."]
There was so much dog poop out there today it was like walking through mine fields. I had Rockport sandals on instead of my regular "walking shoes." Mistake. Big mistake. But, by the time I finished the last post, the Kids were "antsy" [ha! they weren't "antsy," they were "frantic"], and I just grabbed the sandals. Won't do that tomorrow. Unbelievable how much poop was out there. The yearly Kennel Club meeting is coming up - and once again - it will be my only agenda... Dog poop. I believe that those who are responsible should be warned. Once. Then fined. Take the fines directly out of the paycheck of the family bread-earner - and in almost one hundred percent of the instances, it is going to be the "man of the family." Fine him big. 100 Riyals for the second offense [first offense was a warning], and then double it or triple it each time thereafter. I guarantee you there'd be no more dog shit on people's yards and covering the common areas. It may not be the man of the family walking the four-legged Kid, but when his pay check is reduced, you will see whoever in that family is walking the four-legged Kid start taking responsibility for that Kid's messes!
This irks me to no end. And, again, it is the Westerner's that are being admonished. Why? Simple. Very simple. In this compound-community of some 15,000 or 20,000 or so people there are very, very, very few Saudis or Muslims that own dogs. Very few. Yes, there are some. But not many. The majority of us that have four-legged Kids are Westerner's. I know it, they know it, and the authorities on this compound know it. Once again - as we do every year - we have to go through educating the owners of these Kids that they need to take responsibility for the actions - or piles of crap, in this case - and it just irritates the heck out of me that YOU are NOT cleaning up after your Kid. YOU DO NOT WANT ME TO CATCH YOU!!! And, I will, because I'll be making it my mission to be the self-appointed sheriff of shit...
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I totally agree, if you have a dog, its your duty to pick up the poop. If you don't want to do that, then don't own a dog, its not rocket science......or is it?
ReplyDeleteGill
Apparently, Gill, for some, it is... It is. Pisses me off no matter where it is. Your dog - your job to scoop. There are those however, especially the ones with little dogs, that just don't see it that way.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking about the lettuce, why don't you grow your own? If you want some lettuce seeds mailed over just let me know, I leave to go away on vacation this week, so let me know before the end of the week, as its the end of gardening season here.
ReplyDeleteGill
Gill - great idea! I am going to try to grow my own corn. I've be thrilled to take you up on your offer to mail me some seed, but they would never, ever make it through customs. Nope. They wouldn't! Wish I'd have thought to bring the seeds back with me. There's always next year. I need to plant the corn seeds in October, here, according to my gardening book. Don't know when you'd start lettuce.
ReplyDeleteSo the new compound here in Bahrain.. DOGS. So much different than what we are used to in Saudi. Many dogs and my girls are going bonkers just by the sight. But I was already calling management. At 6:30 am my first morning here I looked out side and saw a dog running loose and take a dive right into the public pool. I about fell over.
ReplyDelete1. Leash your dog when they are out. This is the 2nd time I've seen an unleashed dog. While you may think your dog is Mr. Cuddles the way my girls freak any dog will chase them and bite them.
2. Public pool people ugghh!! Just as I don't let my children in w/out a swim diaper if they have no bodily control. Don't let your dogs in there. Take 'em to the beach
3. If I see doo doo and the offendor you better believe they'll get an earful :)
a friend of mine is going to get a dog. And I'm hoping w/ her help and the dogs mine won't be so freaked out by the sight of one. It really is extreme. And all 3 girls together I want to bite them myself.
Much like having Kids, NZ, having four-legged ones IS a responsibility! I can assure you dogs don't lose bodily control in the water - just trust me on this one - but they do not - know for a fact. Have had dogs all my life. But you do have a duty as an owner to NOT let them run loose and terrorize ANYONE! Poop?!? Yeah, we're on the same page. DO NOT LET ME CATCH you NOT scooping!!!
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