Dog is My God

Contradiction:  A statement that contradicts itself, i.e., a statement that makes a claim that the same thing is true and that it is false at the same time and in the same senses of the terms. 

That is an OUTSTANDING definition.

So I'm a dog person by which I mean that I like most animals more than I like most people, and I'm not kidding about that.  I'm not a dog owner which would seem to be a contradiction in terms but then again . . . not if you know me.  Stay with me as this meandering straightens itself out eventually.

At most of my meetings I have a lot of friends, these relationships exhibiting varying degrees of depth and intensity.  And being an outgoing and generally agreeable man I'm friendly with most of the rest of the people.  A few people I don't like and, generally, they know this.  And there is the category of people that I'm cordial to even though it's clear that some underlying friction exists.

After my morning meeting a few days ago this dude asked me if I would be willing to host his dog - at my house - while he went on a business trip.  He lives near the meeting and he usually takes the animal for a walk while I'm still shooting the shit with people outside.  I always stoop and pet him - the dog, not the dude.  He knows me, is clearly happy to see me, and is eager to get petted.

I was hesitant about doing this.  It's one thing to help someone with a pet - maybe stopping by a few times to walk him or even staying at the owner's house - and another thing altogether to take in an animal that's probably going to be upset and confused.  Animals are like two year olds - you can't say: "Your owner will be back in three days, so relax."  As far as the dog is concerned he has been left in a strange place in an unknown neighborhood with people he doesn't recognize, and he's never going to see his owner ever again.  He doesn't speak English.

The thing about this thing is this: I'm not really a big fan of the dude who asked for my help.  I had a run-in with him a while back about his tendency to spend most of the meeting fucking around on his cell phone.  I don't care if you want to peer at a tiny electronic screen for ten straight hours, paging through unimportant things, just not in a meeting, believing it sends a terrible message to newcomers who may be struggling to get involved.  I pointed out to him that this was rude behavior during the start of a meeting a while back - I have been elected Sargent At Arms at this meeting in a unanimous, landslide vote of One to Zero; Seaweed in the affirmative, everyone else can piss off - and he told me where to stuff my opinion.  I wasn't particularly offended at the time - his behavior really isn't my business and I had no right or authority to tell him what to do.  I was, however, polite in my request and I thought his reaction was outsized and exaggerated, a good indicator that he sees where I'm right and that he may have a ways to go in the Practice These Principles department.

So our relationship has been frostily strained since then.  SuperK and I bandied his request around and agreed to help the guy out.  Part of it was to be of service in a general way.  After all, I ask my Higher Power to show me ways that I may be helpful as my day unfolds and I don't put any preconditions on this, although making a nubile 19 year old or a guy with a Ferrari feel welcome is more along the lines of what I've been thinking.

My "friend" is one of those people who goes to a lot of meetings but doesn't seem to . . . you know . . . work The Steps or Practice These Principles.  These people don't change much over time is my experience.  They get stuck.  They're better but not well by a long shot.

What did I expect and what did I get?  The dog shows up and it stinks.  I don't mean dog stink - I mean dog who lives in a dumpster stink.  I mean I'm not going to pet the dog stink.  I don't think he left enough food for the time he's gone and he definitely didn't leave enough poop bags - they ran out immediately which sent me to the grocery store to replenish his supplies with my money.  And the kicker is this: the guy tells me all I have to do is walk the dog briefly twice a day, that the dog doesn't really like to take walks.  Yeah, me, either.  The dog loves walks - the lazy-ass dog owner doesn't like to take walks.  The nail in the coffin is that he has not responded to messages the first two days giving him an update on the dog's well-being, messages he requested.

I feel bad for the dog.  It's a pretty good dog.  The guy's an asshole, however, and I can't do anything about that.