Did we leave the poop?

While walking the other day in a local park my wife and I were accosted by an older woman who was very upset because we did not "scoop the poop," a requirement in the park. She literally accosted us over the poop. When I asked her to calm down, she got even madder. Then I told her if she could not address me in a civil tone I would not listen to her. For some reason this worked and she calmed down to the point where I was willing to listen to her.

She said that our dog had pooped a few feet back and that we should clean it up. I said, "No, neither one pooped." I also explained that both our dogs were girls. so they might give the wrong impression. She wouldn't listen and backtracked to an old pile that she claimed our dogs had left, so to avoid any more conflict I decided to bag the pile and continue with our walk.

I have found that as I have gotten older I try to avoid conflict more than step into it (sorry for the bad pun). The woman who accosted us could have gotten much further if she had simply talked to us about what she thought she saw instead of getting mad at us. She was generating conflict.

Most dogwalkers do not leave piles on the trails, otherwise the heavily traveled trails would be packed with excrement. I think some dog lovers do need to be reminded from time to time that cleaning up is their responsibility. I noticed an owner leaving his dog's pile one time and he said the bags were gone from the stand at the start of the trail. "No problem, I've got one!" and the owner cleaned up the mess.

There is a cost for the local/state/federal governments to provide bags and to clean up poop left by other, less considerate dogwalkers. On the other hand, roughly 40% of American families own at least one dog and we do pay taxes. As our North Georgia becomes more crowded and the local/state/federal governments are cutting costs, we all must work together to keep our common areas clean.

Occupy or protest

I am a strong proponent of the American right to protest, in my mind guaranteed under the First Amendment. From a historic prospective, the Occupy protests are similar to the Hoovervilles that formed in the early 1930's. The largest was in New York's Central Park, but Hoovervilles were common throughout the United States. There was one near Cabbagetown in Atlanta, and probably others.

With high unemployment and no welfare, Hoovervilles were a cheap place to live in a home crafted from wood taken from crates and palettes. Normally, these "homes" remained as a family moved on, ready for the next occupant who came into the town.

The occupy protesters are very disorganized. Only recently have they begun to focus their frustration on the banks (apparently the original "Wall Street" target was falling on deaf ears). As Georgians know, many banks, especially the local banks, are barely getting by. Each Friday it seems another small local bank in the state fails, only to be taken over, mostly by a stronger regional bank.

Recently, the protesters have begun to center on foreclosures in an attempt to attract support. Well just about everybody, myself included, hates to see a bank foreclose on a property. Maybe if the bank had done more due diligence upfront, checking credit ratings, verifying employment and requiring a down payment we might have avoided this foreclosure mess. But they were forced to accept the so-called sub-prime loans thanks to one man, Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank.

In 2003 when the Bush Administration asked Congress for oversight on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae congressman Barney Frank stated that the entities "...are not facing any kind of financial crisis" Frank, as chairman of the House Financial Services Committee starting in 2007 tried to offset a statistical drop in home ownership with no down, no credit check home loans. This kicked off the famous mortgage bailout skit on Saturday Night Live, which NBC banned for many years:









Now, I don't blame the financial mess we got into in 2008 on Barney Frank. I do blame it on some Wall Street firms who knew they were taking advantage of antiquated laws with Mortgage Backed Securities and Credit Default Swaps. The banking mess, however, was because of the banks being forced to shore up the housing market courtesy of Mr. Frank. So, for the protestors to try and blame Wall Street or the banking industry without including the Pelosi Congress is sadly mistaken. Their movement is failing to catch widespread support because the basic tenant is wrong.

When we protested the killing of the Kent State students in 1969 many people who joined were righteously indignant over the killings and joined the protests across the United States. 100,000 people protested in Washington D. C. alone. The occupy movement pales in comparison.