I'm still pissed at what just happened to me so I don't know what will come out of my mind.
This morning when I was walking my dog I bumped into a lady that clearly had no bags to pick up the poop from her not one, but two dogs. I knew that and since I'm strongly against not picking up, I saw a fight coming like a meteorologist predicts a hurricane. I was still trying to give her the benefit of the doubt when she started talking to me about how cute my dog was. I said a polite"thanks" thinking that she might had picked up and dumped the bag since she was not from my building. But the meteorologist in me is almost never wrong and her dog pooped in front of me.
Needless to say, in one second I catapulted from a normal person to a big red tomato, to a normal person again, and in a very calm voice that I'm still wondering where it came from, I said:
-"Do you have a bag to pick that up?"
-"No, I don't pick up"
Please God don't abandon me right now, I really need you- I thought.
-"You better start thinking about picking up, we have kids playing here, you know"-I added.
-"This is not a park".
-"Is not a dog park either" I pointed out hoping that she would understand, but Mercury (the planet of communications) is retrograde in some other planet, and she added.
-"I was taught that dog poop is a grass fertilizer, so I don't need to pick up"
_"Yes, but this grass is artificial and doesn't need to be fertilized"
-"I'm from the old school-she replied taking two steps back and waving her hands like in the old school theater way said- "Besides, no one can tell me what to do in MY CITY."- yes, she said "IN MY CITY" with capital letters-
_" A police officer can give you a ticket for not picking up"- I added hoping to see an officer close enough so she could get a ticket, but god was only taking care of me not loosing my cool.-
-"I have paid a lot of tickets"Besides you can't change a 57 year old woman". "No one can"
She had a point, she disarmed me with that statement. But I'm stubborn and I really think we should do the right thing at all times (not that I've never run out of bags to pick up, but at least I make an effort on a daily basis and I make up for it the next day I can't be responsible owner). Trying to make some sense I added.
-New studies show (and I emphasized "New", so she could see my point) that dog waste can carry diseases that are harmful to humans"
-"Maybe you have a point"- That's all she said.
Defeated as I was felling, I tried to walk back home, but my dog was taking his time and I had to stay there for a few more minutes. Situation that she took on her favor because she started again.
-"Where are you from?"-
-Cuba-
-"How long have you been here?"-
-"Three years"-
-"And you like it?"
-"Miami is a great city to live"-I added, more harsh this time.
-"It was. I don't like what they are doing with My City "- capital letters again, "This is the only city where people do not need to speak the language of the country. The only city where you have three languages to choose to apply for a driver's license .Spanish, Creole and English.I don't like this city anymore.My parents were born here.I was born in New York. The Spanish I know is because I lived in Puerto Rico for three years but that's it".
-"You are lucky you were born in a country with opportunities for everyone, in a country where so many people want to live"-
-"Yes, but "you" -now this is personal I thought- get here and "you" get help from the government with my tax money, and "you"... -"please god make me deaf right now so I don't have to hear this racist lady anymore"-...blah, blah, blah.
-"Like I said, you are lucky. Embrace it or move to another city"
-"Since when do I have to leave My City"
- Since you don't like it-I thought, but "Have a good day lady" was all I could managed to say and I walked away from her-
-"Thanks for the advise"- she yelled.
What could I have said, though or done? Nothing!!! That lady was trying to pick a fight with whomever crosses her path today. But that doesn't make me feel any better about the fact that I know, that she will never pick up her two dogs poop. It is not the end of the world, it's not even the fact that from time to time I have to clean my walking boots myself to get rid of dog poop. Is her resistance to change, to the new generation that is trying to make things better. When industrial revolution happened, nobody thought about the damage we were doing to our planet, and today, some are still resisting the idea of making the world a better place to live (like this lady and the ones driven only by the money obtained no matter the method). And that is sad because that lets us with practically no resources to fight but to wait for them to die developing a great amount of endurance and patience.
Like always
With love,
Lily.
