Un-evening Walk
I was taking an evening walk tonight and noticed an elderly woman pushing a baby carriage along the sidewalk toward me.
I thought, Hmm... I wonder if that's her grandchild.
As we passed each other I noticed that it wasn't (I just got the feeling that about half of my readership just guessed what I'm about to say) a baby in the stroller.
It was a dog.
She was walking her dog.
Had it been earlier in the day... as in, not nighttime... I probably could have filed that away as a cute, quirky, old-person thing.
But it wasn't daytime, and our paths happened to cross under the strange glow of a streetlamp...
... so instead of being cute, it was just weird.
posted by shad @ 9:13 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Fortunately you were not walking at a pace to generate the horror and relief of the buggy scene in Speed.
And there was a least enough light to keep you from the greater potential disaster of commenting, "Cute grandbaby. Is it a...?"
I've seen this strange behavior in shopping malls and with adults much younger than elderly. Even in the daylight it's just weird.
In defense of small dogs, it usually happens that they can't go very far before their energy runs out. So maybe the lady thought, "If I'm going to all the trouble of going for a walk, I'm at least going beyond my front yard!"
Or maybe the dog was fussy and, since dog-seats are harder to come by, she thought a "walk" would tire it out so she could sleep. Or maybe the dog just wasn't to be trusted by itself at home. OR maybe the dog was recuperating from a serious injury and couldn't walk!
I think I'm getting a bit carried away here.
To thot4fud:
I guess you're right, if it'd of been any darker I might have been surprised into performing an exorcism.
To Courtney:
I didn't know it was such a common practice. The mall thing didn't seem as weird to me... until I imagined being the parent of an actual child and walking around the mall with him/her in a stoller, and seeing someone else in a similar situation and giving them the universal nod-and-smile of comraderie... and then realizing that's not a baby in their stroller... and kind of wishing I could take back my nod-and-smile... but I can't so I just pull a U-ey, head out w/out making anymore eye-contact.
To broken verses:
Yeah, I went through the same thought process of possible justification and ultimate denial. So I appreciate your trying to give the benefit of the doubt in even a hopelessly weird situation.
Oh, and always a pleasure to have a Model/Writer/Photographer visitor. You're welcome here anytime. (is that shallow?)
To Christina:
I would try it... but unfortunately I've hired 6 hitmen and given them very clear instructions that if they ever see me pushing a stoller around with a dog in it... to end it right there... for both me and the dog.
To ih:
I agree with you... you are totally getting carried away there. But thanks for trying. And I have it on good authority that The Organization For the Defense of Small Dogs has taken notice of your comments and is very appreciative and interested. Keep it up.
To christina (again):
I knew in theory what "LOL" meant... but now I even know what it sounds like. Good one.
I believe that this practice of "walking" a dog is correlated to the obesity epidemic in dogs. Does anybogy else agree?
To Christina:
Whatever happened to just letting these dogs go outside and play. Why do we have to test them so much?
In ancient Greece, marathon runners would often carry a dog with them when running the countryside. The idea was to keep the dog's legs fresh so in the event of tragedy - highwaymen, beast, twisted ankle - the dog could run back to town and inform those concerned that the runner was is some kind of trouble. This idea is believed to predate the carrier pigeon. What is not known is whether pigeons have ever themselves been pushed through malls in strollers.
in colorado many small dogs are eaten by coyotes, hawks and hobos, who don't eat them so much as put a hankerchief around their necks and call them hank.
"old lady pushing baby carriage at night"
these words portend something dark, and you missed it. homeland security called, i think they want to hire you.
...i kid because i love.
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