yesterday, after experiencing home depot, petsmart and micheal's (craft store) at the supercenter in northern sacto and being completely disgusted with society and consumerism and development i thought living on a commune just might be nice. (i was shoved, run into by shopping carts, listend to little kids screaming and parents ignoring them, etc. and i didn't even go into walmart! [i refuse to shop there. at all. won't even go in]) after my experience saturday, i am ready to move to one. sometimes people disgust me. i really honestly can't believe how many of them act....the story:

i am livid. LIVID. in the evenings i sometimes walk my dogs around the park near my house. it's a perfect 'walking' park - one block wide and about a half a mile long. there is a parth around the outer edge. the park is mainly grass with lots and lots of gigantic old trees. there is a playground and some lighted tennis courts in the center. the past few days i have seen a man out with his two large dogs. they look like they may be dobermans, whatever they were, they were large, muscular and FAST. he was running them off leash - throwing a ball quite far and the dogs retreived it. now, i know that a lot of people like to have their dogs off leash. we have three (one of them being IN my neighborhood, about a 5 minute walk away) local off leash dogs parks. if i let my dogs are off leash, it's there. many people aren't comfortable around dogs, and you shouldn't run them off leash in pubic, regardless of how nice they are. if i see anyone with off leash dogs bigger than say, oh, 50 pounds, i will likly ask the owner to put the leash on. there is always a degree of unpredictableness, no matter how friendly the dog. everest didn't react whatsoever to the dogs, but to eliminate risk (if i were caught in a suprise fight between three 100 pound plus dogs, i'd be in BIG trouble...) i asked him politely:

me: um, hi, do you mind hanging on to them for a second? just as i walk by?

him: why? they're friendly

me: i know, but everest sometimes gets excited and starts barking...he usually doesn't and he's totally friendly but i ....

him: no, they are fine

me: i know but....(i trailed off, kept walking, realizing that he *wasn't* going to put them on leash at all)

him: that's your problem not mine

this took a second to register...i paused, blinked, "excuse me?"

him: that's your problem, not mine.

me: i'm not running my large dogs off leash in a public park.

him: mind your own fucking business

i was in shock. complete shock that someone would speak to me in such a way, especially when i was polite, didn't want to start anything, and was simply asking him to follow the rules. there are signs all over the park that say 'pets must be on leash'. i didn't reply to him. people like that aren't worth arguing with. but from now on i am taking my cell phone (hey! they're good for *something*) and calling animal control the next time i see him out there with off leash dogs. (i have seen him out there many times before, just never with my dogs). what a jerk. it made me sad. and angry. and frustrated.