Me as I head down my street walking Lucy and seeing house cleaners coming out of one of my neighbour's houses: "I really need to remember more often that many other people have lives that are so much harder than mine on a day-to-day basis, never mind when extra challenges happen (disclaimer: I am fully aware that it's possible that people who clean houses for a living are perfectly content with their lot). I need to practice more radical acceptance, realize that most bad things that happen to me are, at best, minor inconveniences, and keep perspective and be more grateful."
Me as we're about two-thirds through our route and it starts raining and I don't have an umbrella (not because I forgot but because I DECIDED IT WOULDN'T BE NECESSARY, even though I KNEW rain was in the forecast) and I try to get Lucy to speed up a bit, and because I'm distracted I don't realize that she is trying to poop, and the leash is stuck ACROSS HER BUTT and let's just say this was a very sub-optimal occasion on which to have that happen, and THEN I further realize that we are on the scrupulously-maintained, ultra-picturesque lawn maintained by an older man I see working on it and I REALLY TRY not to let Lucy walk on it at all, much less perform bodily functions on it, so now I'm walking home getting wet, holding a defiled leash, feeling guilty, with a really cranky dog: "Everything sucks and I hate my stupid life."
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| Perfectly sanguine about the whole thing |
26 comments:
Yikes. Barkley was one of those dogs who would kick his legs back after he pooped to...I don't know, cover it up? Who knows what dogs think. Anyway, he also kind of moved around when he pooped. It was inevitable that one day he would kick his legs back and get poop all over them, and that is exactly what happened, and I never recovered. (I recovered, but it was gross)
I've been there my friend. I've been there.
Ten minutes is enough buddhism for anybody in 2026. You done good.
Lucy is perfect in every way. I feel like this would be my mantra every single minute of every day if I were you. I mean, how can you be upset with that adorableness?! But, yeah, I've been there, too. It's tough out there sometimes.
Heehee- I like Common Household Mom's comment above. You couldn't really be expected to hold on to your Buddhism in the face of that adversity!!!
Wait why was I.anonymous? That was me, Jenny...
Temporary Buddhism is better than none??? I would have been a sobbing, cranky mess after that ordeal if that helps.
Oh dear.
Sometimes it just seems like the universe sees a good mood and chooses to spoil it right away.
I mean, the fact that you had 10 minutes of that mindset is really saying something! That is just, um, not my vibe? But that mindset being kicked off by seeing a house cleaner leaving a house reminds me of when I had a really terrible job in my 20s. There was a really nice garden area with ponds and walking paths that I would walk in to clear my mind. One day, I saw a maintenance worker clearing leaves out of a pond/water feature and wanted to trade places with him. And that was the sign I needed that I needed to get the heck out of that job. When a grounds keeper rolls looks like an upgrade, change is necessary.
Dogs, like people, cannot be perfect all the time. The nice thing is that dogs manage it far more often than people do.
Lucy does that too, except she goes so far away from where she pooped that it's not remotely effective, but also means she doesn't kick her legs into the poop (Barkley no!)
Oh I have no doubt - and that poop would be BIG.
This made me laugh out loud!
Oh, you've had so much more grossness to deal with with poor Hannah. And Lucy is pretty perfect, this was not on her.
It was so flimsy, Jenny, so paper-thin.
Just soggy rather than sobbing, but yes, quite cranky.
Lol, perfect comment, no notes.
RIGHT?
It's not my vibe either! And I know what you mean - I had the same experience in Toronto, while doing my master's, with construction workers. I still finished the Master's but then I got out of academia.
Oh trust, Nance, I am fully aware that every facet of this experience was completely on me, and Lucy was blameless.
LUCY IS PERFECT ALWAYS. #justiceforLucy #IstandbyLucy
Ten minutes was a long time! I can imagine that Lucy did not do this on purpose, but nature calls and leashes be leashing.
Sometimes the world just sucks. I’m glad when it’s in such minor ways, like getting wet and having a poopy leash, and being embarrassed. I would be truly grumpy, and also at the same time, the part of my brain that was being bossy about radical acceptance and so on would say, ‘get a real problem’, and then I’d be mad about that because my life is full of those too, and then I’d start wondering about the people who have housekeepers come, and what their real problems are because I feel like if you have housekeepers come to clean, you can’t REALLY have problems, all while KNOWING that this is not at all true, I know people with housekeepers who come and have REAL problems and by now I’d probably be home and the dog and leash would be clean and I’d have a cup of hot tea and would maybe be feeling better. But that’s me.
Mulder used to do that too! We called it his ‘kick kick!’ Because he felt so good after pooping. Like some commercial I used to see when we watched commercial TV, for constipation relief, and the people would be shaking their asses to the tune of ‘I got you’, by James Brown.
I thought right from the start you were going a different direction, something more about how you had to think about how people who have housecleaners ALSO have problems, so I was already one step behind you. And then I got to the second part, where your moment of zen acceptance was compromised by the rain and the leash and the lawn, and I was just 100% I HEAR YOU.
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