Recently at a grocery store parking lot we tied the dog outside for a few minutes while buying a plant and coming out got yelled at by an older gentleman for not taking care of our dog in a place where dogs get stolen. He wasn't just trying to give us advice he was actually upset and it seemed like an odd way to pay it forward. He continued scolding us as we moved away from him. But that wasn't nearly as bad as the other form of pay it "backwards" from that day.
First, a little background behind these notes posted below. I was parking in downtown Atlanta and had squeezed into a tight space (a little over the yellow paint on the side, but not blocking anyone or anything) in front of a person who parked in a way that took up two spots. I got back to my car and found the note below on my windshield. It took me a minute to piece together why there was two different hand writings on each side of the note and why there was so much spite coming from people I'd never even met. I learned that the first message here came from someone living in the residence next to the parking space. Without the "moron" part it actually doesn't seem so bad. The second message on the back side of the paper is from the person who parked in the two spots and assumed that the car in front of them (me) had written the message and was responding in a nice cursive, nasty manner.
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| These people may need some communication training |
Forward
We've been doing Air BnB for awhile and having a pretty good experience with it. Last week was no exception with a couple we hosted with a German Shepard (I know, sorry, another dog story). At one point the dog look like she needed to pee (the owners had been out for many hours) and without thinking (or putting on a collar) I opened the door. The dog bolted, and I mean bolted. I tracked her for about 10 minutes, each time trying to get closer before she dashed off terrified and unfamiliar with the neighborhood into the dark dark night. And this German Shepard was way too fast for me to catch. As she invaded neighbor's backyards and made a scene people started coming out and helping me find her. After an hour we had 3-4 cars, and probably 10 people on feet trying to spot her. No one could get close to her, not even with a piece of steak. This dog was crazy. At that point of course with my tail between my legs I called the owners to tell them what happened. I was pretty sure I'd be kicked off Air BnB forever, especially when the dog ran out onto Dekalb Ave. where cars fly at ridiculous speeds and the dog almost caused an accident.
In the end the owners came and over a mile from my house, an exhausted and bloody footed dog (apparently her nails were so long and she doesn't walk enough or something) was finally coaxed into coming home. People put down whatever they were doing to come to their neighbors aid. I actually might have lost some almost complete strangers' dog without their help. I was pretty scared.
It's kind of amazing how people can be so good and so bad to each other.
