***Official buzzkill warning; proceed at your own risk***
Having lived on this planet a few years, I've seen a number of very emotionally disturbing things, but one I witnessed 3 weeks ago has been particularly nagging.
While driving back into my neighborhood after work, I followed an SUV through the series of stop signs to my street. Right before we got to my turn, I see this big golden retriever/lab walk out of a yard to my right towards the SUV in front of me. Seeing the dog approaching his car, the middle-aged guy in front of me slows and stops a good 20 feet before the stop sign. He looks into his mirrors then slowly proceeds towards the stop sign with the dog walking along the right side of his car, presumably in his blind spot. Just then, a lady comes out onto her porch from a house on the left side of the road and the dog inexplicably turns left towards her, walking right in front of the SUV. Before I could honk or do anything else helpful, the guy drives slowly over the middle of this big dog's back with both his right front and rear tires.
I almost puked on my dash from what followed...the sickening-sounding yelping...the dog's owner rushing in tears to scoop her up out of the street as the SUV driver tearfully proclaimed that he "just didn't see her"...the dog owner yelling at his kids to "get back inside now"...the feeling that came over me as I drove past this chaotic, nightmarish scene.
When I got home 30 seconds later, I grabbed a beer and a J and went out onto the deck in my backyard to privately process what had just occurred before my wife and kids got home from their outing. As I sat there numb trying to work through the scene, a big neighbor's cat darted across my lawn with something in his mouth. He paused under my big pine tree and looked up at me with a baby rabbit in his mouth, still kicking and squealing. For the next 5 minutes, I had to listen to that cat torture/eat the baby rabbit while it screamed.
I picked up my intoxicants and headed back inside for the sanctuary of my basement with its couches, stereo and cable TV. For about 30 seconds, I considered going back outside with a rifle for that cat...then rational thought returned and I decided to just swallow up the entire experience until now. Out of not wanting to burdon my wife with anything extra to keep her up at night, I have never mentioned that evening or its events. It's kinda wierd- I've seen worse things than that happen before to larger animals and even people, but I find myself replaying that scene over and over again when I'd just as soon forget it ever happened.
Anyhow, perhaps just "putting it all on paper" will
me forget about it. Here's hoping, at least...
Having lived on this planet a few years, I've seen a number of very emotionally disturbing things, but one I witnessed 3 weeks ago has been particularly nagging.
While driving back into my neighborhood after work, I followed an SUV through the series of stop signs to my street. Right before we got to my turn, I see this big golden retriever/lab walk out of a yard to my right towards the SUV in front of me. Seeing the dog approaching his car, the middle-aged guy in front of me slows and stops a good 20 feet before the stop sign. He looks into his mirrors then slowly proceeds towards the stop sign with the dog walking along the right side of his car, presumably in his blind spot. Just then, a lady comes out onto her porch from a house on the left side of the road and the dog inexplicably turns left towards her, walking right in front of the SUV. Before I could honk or do anything else helpful, the guy drives slowly over the middle of this big dog's back with both his right front and rear tires.
I almost puked on my dash from what followed...the sickening-sounding yelping...the dog's owner rushing in tears to scoop her up out of the street as the SUV driver tearfully proclaimed that he "just didn't see her"...the dog owner yelling at his kids to "get back inside now"...the feeling that came over me as I drove past this chaotic, nightmarish scene.
When I got home 30 seconds later, I grabbed a beer and a J and went out onto the deck in my backyard to privately process what had just occurred before my wife and kids got home from their outing. As I sat there numb trying to work through the scene, a big neighbor's cat darted across my lawn with something in his mouth. He paused under my big pine tree and looked up at me with a baby rabbit in his mouth, still kicking and squealing. For the next 5 minutes, I had to listen to that cat torture/eat the baby rabbit while it screamed.
I picked up my intoxicants and headed back inside for the sanctuary of my basement with its couches, stereo and cable TV. For about 30 seconds, I considered going back outside with a rifle for that cat...then rational thought returned and I decided to just swallow up the entire experience until now. Out of not wanting to burdon my wife with anything extra to keep her up at night, I have never mentioned that evening or its events. It's kinda wierd- I've seen worse things than that happen before to larger animals and even people, but I find myself replaying that scene over and over again when I'd just as soon forget it ever happened.
Anyhow, perhaps just "putting it all on paper" will
me forget about it. Here's hoping, at least...
Thats why I dont let my dogs run around in the street.
