Okay, I might have tricked you with that title. Maybe you’re thinking…hmmm, she got new neighbors? Are they DADO’s?

Or maybe you’ve been reading this blog so long, that you know Fairweathers, should really be Fair-weathers, or fair weathers. You know, those folks who only seem to come outside when the weather is…fair.

Perhaps you yourself are a Fair-weather. And that’s okay. What you do doesn’t bother me, it’s what the Fair-weathers in my neighborhood do that we’re talking about right now.

There are two kinds of Fair-weathers. The Dog Fair-weathers, who only walk their dogs in nice weather. And I’m proud to say, we don’t have a lot of those dog owners in my neighborhood. No, the dog owners in my neighborhood just never walk their dogs.  But they are DADO’s and we all know DADO’s are…well let’s be nice and say DADO’s are a special kind of people.

The other type of Fair-weather people, are the people who come out to bike, run, walk, but only in the nice weather.

Now you see why I’m calling these folks, Fair-weathers.

And truthfully, I don’t mind the folks who only go out when the weather is nice. Hell, if I didn’t have to walk two dogs, I’d probably be a Fair-weather myself. Or maybe I’d be a barfly, or an actress playing a barfly.

Who the hell am I kidding? I’d probably just stay in and be a couch potato.

But I digress.

Anyway, what I do mind about Fair-weathers is they seem to have forgotten, or perhaps they never knew the protocol about sharing the road with people and their dogs.

When I walk the dogs, or just walk in general, I try to walk facing oncoming traffic. Yes, there are places in my neighborhood where I have to disregard my rule, because of dogs, or people who hate me, but whenever I can, I face oncoming traffic. How else can you see what’s happening in enough time to try and avoid it?

Two weeks ago, this happened to Delilah (of course) and me.

We were on our evening walk, and going down a hill, when I heard some slapping behind me.  I turned around to see a jogger runner towards us. I quickly moved Delilah to the other side of the road, as I did not want the woman running past us, and startling Delilah. One never knows how a startled dog will react.

For the record, she never said a word. Didn’t acknowledge us in anyway. (At least the guy that was chasing her was kind enough to wave.)

Now when I’m coming up behind someone, I like to let them know. You know, so they don’t crap their pants, or a have a heart attack. Because I’ve wet my pants before and I’m telling you, it’s no fun. Nor is the walk home afterwards.

There’s that digression again…

The woman never said anything, not a word.

Now I’m thinking back to a story one of my neighbors told me two summers ago. Her daughter was out jogging and she came up behind a woman walking her dog. The girl called out hello to the woman, and went to pass her and the dog, and the dog bit the girl on the back of her leg. Right below the butt.  It was a pretty bad bite (from what I saw of the photos) and of course, there was a lot of drama, because, well you know….DADO’s. (If anyone wants to read that story, let me know, and I’ll schedule it for a future post.)

Ever since I heard that story, I’ve tried to be aware of people coming up behind me, because I think it’s something that people just don’t think about.

When we walk, I will always cross the road to be on the opposite side of a walker, jogger, biker. And of course another dog. To me, it’s just being courteous, but it’s also looking out for my dog and making sure she doesn’t fail. Because if she fails, that means I’ve failed her.

And I don’t like failing.

So tell me, do you cross the road when you encounter someone, whomever it might be? Are my expectations of people and their behavior just too high? Is that do unto others saying just a load of bunk? Am I wasting my time trying to be nice in my neighborhood?