I was gonna be sarcastic today.
I was gonna be REALLY sarcastic today,
in fact. I was going to post a picture of one of the “no dogs
allowed” signs at the entrance to Marquette’s Fit Strip, and then
I was going to post the text of the city ordinance that says all
owners must keep their dogs in a leash while out in public. I was
then going to share the observation that the one or two percent of
dogs owners who don’t follow the law must do so because they have
trouble reading, and I was going to propose we consider setting up an
“Illiterate Dogs Owners” fund to teach them the joy of reading.
But you know what? Life’s too short,
especially for sarcasm like that.
As I mentioned yesterday, Saturday
morning caused a bit of disillusion on my part. I mentioned I was
walking home from something when I saw the hat had been stolen from
Phil's statue in downtown Marquette, but from where was I walking?
Well, I was walking from an early morning cross-country ski around
the Fit Strip. Because of the weather conditions it wasn't the best
ski in the world, but I wanted to get some exercise. So I went.
Little did I know that would mean going down a steep hill and having
to bite a snow bank because several huge piles of dog crap were
sitting in the tracks in front of me.
That was fun.
I know I complain about the very small
minority of dog owners who don't follow the rules in here a lot. And
maybe I shouldn't; after all, 98 percent of Marquette residents who
own dogs are dreams. But the others? Well, the others feel their
pets are more important than the human citizens of Marquette. And I
was gonna whine about that today. But when you consider that there
are people in this world who are starving or who are fighting for
their basic human rights, dumb dogs owners are nothing. When you
consider there are kids dealing with cancer and parents wondering
where their next pay check is coming from or whether they'll be hated
by other just because of who they are, dumb dog owners don’t matter
one iota.
There are minor inconveniences in the
world, and then there are PROBLEMS in the world. On the scale of
things, I know where this falls.
I’d like to think that I’m not a
very self-involved person. I’d like to think that I’m well aware
of the fact that the world does not revolve around me, and that not
everything in the world that goes wrong does so just to piss me off.
I have a good life. In fact, despite some of the complaining I’ve
done in here recently, I have a GREAT life. I have enough food.
Because I was lucky enough to be born a straight (off-) white male, I
don’t have anyone trying to deny me my rights. I have a job, I
have my health, and I have the love of a great woman and a great
family.
That is what I should be focusing on.
The inconsideration of a very small subset of people, and my response
to them, pales in comparison to everything else.
So I’m making this vow--2018 will be
the year I devote every iota of energy I have to the good things I
have in life and to the possibility of good things for everyone all
around the planet. The little inconveniences? They don’t even
deserve the energy I’d have to expend to come up with a sarcastic
response.
That’s my vow. If I slip a little
bit over the next few months, forgive me. And call me out on it,
too. After all, as we all know, I’m nowhere near perfect. But
hopefully I can at least be a little better, even if others can't (or
won't).
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