2000-03-08
Today a girl at work asked me whether I get hassled for eating healthful lunches. "Yes!" I cried, relieved to learn I wasn't the only one. It's really getting tiresome; I've considered eating earlier or later just to avoid the kitchen when this particular gaggle of people are also getting ready to eat. (Women, actually. Does that surprise you?)
They look at my food -- usually fresh vegetables and chicken or tuna -- and say things like, "You're so good!" I never know what to say to that and day after day it grows old. Still, I suppose it's human nature to make such small talk, and I don't take personal offense, not even at this exchange on our most recent monthly site-wide meeting: "You aren't having pizza?" "I don't eat pizza." "I hate you!"
I'm not feeling very chatty lately.
I think I'm inhibited because of an experience the other day that felt so -- typical? predictable? In a nutshell, while walking our two dogs I saw a little stray dog with a collar. Brought ours home then B and I set out with a leash, found the little dog, very cute and sweet. Brought him home. Called the owner who seemed mostly annoyed to hear from me, gave her my address. A while later a boy, maybe thirteen, rode up on his bike to collect the dog. No leash. B offered to lend him ours. Not necessary. The dog is "trained" to be off a leash. Boy on bike heads out of driveway, calls to dog. Dog looks back to us with "I want to stay!" expression. Boy takes off one way down street, dog goes the other. We go back into house.
This little dog was so fucking cute, like a cross between our hound and a chihuahua, 20 or 25 pounds. With a weird scabby situation on his nose, he looked a little neglected. It was sad to think of it being unappreciated by its owners. But that feels judgmental. You know, our way of being pet owners -- keeping them safe and out of traffic, for starters -- is the right way. But isn't it? Meanwhile, behind our house a puppy lives on a chain that can't be more than six feet long.
Do you know what I mean when I say that this episode, and my reactions to it, feel like a cliche? They are real and at the same time, they seem to place me squarely into a particular little box.
For me, this is a hazard of this online journal universe. My own experiences seem less than authentic. Is it just me? Or do you know what I'm getting at?
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