I guess I am an Ogre.
I have continually asked people to stop using our Dulcinea neighborhood park as a dog park. It is not a dog park. Some of them told me they didn't care and would pay fines, but they haven't had to because Animal Control refuses to take action. This morning there were seven dogs running loose in the park. There are signs in the park saying dogs must be on a leash and a reference to a city ordinance that requires it.
When Mayor I created the first dog park as a way of giving our canine friends a place to run free in the city. The city council didn't want to do it, but they finally saw it made sense. There are now thirteen fine dog parks in the city/county. There are two within two miles of Dulcinea Park.
I guess this is a city ordinance that has become a joke. What is next? Allowing dumping of refuse on any city street? I hope one of these dogs doesn't injure anyone, especially the kids who frequent the playground. But in the meantime I am just an Ogre.
I guess this is a city ordinance that has become a joke. What is next? Allowing dumping of refuse on any city street? I hope one of these dogs doesn't injure anyone, especially the kids who frequent the playground. But in the meantime I am just an Ogre.
3 comments:
The narcissism of people today distresses me as well. People think rules shouldn't apply to them and they believe everyone loves their dog(s) as they do. I was walking the Tramway walkway/bikeway last week and a couple walking had their dog "off leash" so I gently reminded them that it is not ok - I said: "the dog should be on a leash" to which the woman replied it was and showed me that their was a retractable leash on the dog that she could grab if necessary. The man began verbally attacking me shouting why don't I call the police. Now why would I as a neighbor call the ABQ police when I can simply remind them that they should leash their dogs. He kept ranting at me to call the police. I lost my cool and shouted out: "It's all about you!" and truly is was. I have personally seen attacks on people and dogs by unleashed dogs who their owners swore were gentle and not aggressive. It's not a pleasant sight. When I was 22 my friend and I went to the beach and my friend let her large lab out without a leash because she wanted her dog to have "freedom" and within seconds he picked up a tiny leashed chihuahua of some elderly tourists and ripped it open. My friend panicked and drove away with her dog. I accompanied the elderly couple to a vet I knew about. I never called or saw my friend again.
Most people in today's society could care less about the rules/laws that are in place for ones safety. Their attitude is it's not against the law unless you get caught. Their attitude might change if a dog owner following the law having their dog on a leash gets attacked by one not leashed, and the leashed owner pulls out a gun and shoots the attacking dog. Boo yah problem solved....
I was just thinking about this but Anonymous beat me to it.
I'm always looking at things like this -- people deciding they don't have to follow the rules, deciding they don't have to respect other people -- in terms of whether or not it signals the end of society as we know it.
The previous commenters seem to think something's changed. I guess one would have to study it to know if it was part of some larger trend or whether disrespect and law breaking are confined to your particular park and whether only select individuals are reverting to a belching farting Cro Magnon state.
I was listening to a podcast by an anthropologist, who said "culture," as in the culture that defines a people, is basically "the rules." It's the norms and traditions people have agreed to live by. They aren't just voted on one day, it would seem to me, but evolved over time as people worked out what works best for the overall and individual good under their particular circumstances (or material conditions, as a Marxist would say.)
So just what is it, then, that makes people abandon the rules, whether it's collectively or individually?
The violent reaction the first commenter elicited would lead me to look for evidence of something else going on in those peoples' lives. We know we're going through economic decline, that our government involves us in endless and brutal wars, that a large segment of the population is fed a steady diet of hate and bitterness. Etc. People are under pressure. The weak will crumble first.
Whatever the case, though, whatever the reason, it's time to fight back.
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