Dogs
I’m not a big dog fan. I’m sorry to all you dog lovers out there. I’m sure your dog is the best dog ever, especially when it’s not trying to bite someone’s hand off. I’m sure I would love playing fetch in the yard with your dog and let it eat Milk Bones out of my bare, trembling hand. Your dog is different from all those other dogs. It’s special.
Some people are afraid of dogs. Dog lovers don’t seem to understand this. When I lived in Vermont, it seemed that most stores had a dog in them. Usually it was a large fuzzy retriever type that would try to sniff my butt while I browsed the CD’s or jump on me while I picked out a bag of chips. “Don’t worry. He’s friendly.” Dog owners always say that. What they mean is, “He won’t take a chunk out of your leg as long a you don’t look him in the eye.”
Once, I went to the video rental store in Montpelier and in the section that contained the video I wanted to rent was a woman and her rottweiler. I walked around the store for a bit waiting for them to leave that aisle so that I could get the video I wanted, but they just wouldn’t leave. She stood there carefully picking up and examining every video in the section.
Finally she noticed me glancing in her direction. “You can come over here and look.” She motioned to me with her hand. “Don’t be afraid of him. He’s harmless. Anyway he’d never bite you. He’s a vegetarian.”
“That’s okay, I’ll wait,” I said as a started another lap around the store.
A vegetarian, it’s a dog. His forced vegetarian diet probably made him even more volatile. My leg was probably looking pretty delicious to him.
My husband and stepson make no bones about being afraid of dogs. I, on the other hand, am slightly ashamed of my fear and try to conceal it, but the dogs know. The dogs always know, so I keep my distance.
