I have an uncanny ability to find my way too frequently into somewhat difficult situations, my mother has long said that trouble and disaster seem to somehow find me with more frequency than is usual. I have blogged on this subject before and so won't repeat myself, suffice to say I have involved in more than my fair share of unpleasantness in my 40 something years.
My current predicament is not on the same scale as some of those I have previously found myself in but none the less a solution evades me for now.
This afternoon my neighbour visited me, the German lady who's disobedient dog I unwittingly inherited when she was taken ill during the summer. That is where the problem begins. Having made a good recovery I found myself still walking her dog four times a day, she seemed reticent to take back the task and so a protracted spell of my gradually excusing myself from the duty began. It met with some degree of protestation and various excuses as to why she couldn't now walk him herself but I dug my heels in despite having a tendency to saying 'yes' when I mean 'NO'. Hell.....why do I do that, and by a few weeks ago was only responsible for some of the evening walks.
And then something happened one night and I stopped altogether.
Despite arriving at my door apparently on different errand it was patently obvious that the reason for this visitation was to try and illicit from me a reason as to why I had abandoned all dog walking duties so suddenly.
That is where my predicament lies. I can't tell her the truth, if I tell her the truth, within hours it will be at four corners of the village and beyond and yet I can't think of a valid excuse to give her.....she is nobody's fool and I'm a crap liar!
So this 'something that happened'? The dog has to walked at 9.30 pm, it is not negotiable, that was fine in the summer, albeit it frequently messed up my evening and once the nights became dark by that hour I still had no worries. That changed on one of the regular 'dog drags' a few weeks ago when it became apparent that someone was hiding in a disused garage that it is unavoidable for me to go past. We have no street lights here, it is pitch black at night, I should have had a torch but I kept forgetting to buy one. The garage in question has no door and no light and as we approached it I heard the shuffling of feet, heavy feet, this was not a cat or a fox! The dog went instantly on red alert, I stopped and listened, I heard breathing, the shuffling stopped and for the first time I recall in my adult life I had to resist my natural fight or flight response and force myself to remain calm.
We walked on, I told myself not to be so silly, we got to the end of our route and turned back, on approaching the garage again, more shuffling, more breathing and dog on red alert again. I stood stock still for a moment, I could hear my own heart in my chest...that's it I thought and ran like hell!
It was PG who from then on forbade me to walk the dog at night. I'm not one generally given to allowing myself to be forbidden from anything but you may understand a little more and forgive our paranoia when I tell you we have a relocated sex offender living not 20 yards away who a while back took to calling at my door for no apparent reason, pulls his car infront of our flat looks and leaves and calls at my place of work with some frequency despite never buying a damn thing!
So my predicament is this, I have always believed in giving people a second chance and if I tell my neighbour my real reasons for quitting the dog rota she will doubtless broadcast the information. If I am wrong about this man his second chance will be gone. In my heart I know I am not wrong but I have no proof. My information regarding his past is of course not official but it comes from a reliable source and whether it was he in the garage that night I will never be able to prove.
Either way, I don't want to be the one to begin such terrible gossip, if I am wrong and it became common knowledge it would be terrible for him, if I am right should i not be warning my neighbour?
I just don't know.............
Wednesday, 13 October 2004
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7 Comments:
Difficult one. Could you perhaps give a general excuse about not being happy about being out in the pitch dark and suggest that she doesn't venture far from home with the dog at that time either? Or are you not going to be able to get away with being so vague?
Menina is right, don't walk the dog.
Myself I would tell her and the hell with might happen.
Safety always first!
OMG...i am nearly peeing down both legs when i read this post. It is YOUR business why you do not want to walk the dog. Nobody elses. You don't have to give the old bag a reason at all if you prefer not to. Your health is far more important than taking un necessary risks. You did a lovely gesture for an old woman and now the old bag is taking advantage of you....screw what the village says....you look after you.
I hope karma comes back and bites the old bag on the arse! You could always ask Magz for a loan of er 6 shooter!!!!!!
magz and shooter, on thier way... (tho it sounds like a 6 shooter is redundant, 1 doofus, 1 bullet) Seriously... i agree w/meesh: DON'T. Now with my devious mind, I MIGHT create a 'set-up'... send pg a half hour ahead with one of those SUPER bright 'torches" (we call em flashlites round here little lady) and as you stroll by, have him BLIND the b@$#@stard, then take his picture and post it round the village. but that's more then ya need to do... simply DONT go there! Thats why god invented tie out chains for dogs if there's no fenced yard! Auntie magz does NOT like the sound of this idiot.. and will happily express that opinion to him in person. Report him parking around you to authorities, have store security question his lack of shopping in your store, and put pg, not the dumb dog, on red alert. Let's remove this weed from your happy little life garden, NO ONE has the right to make you uneasy! Believe in your intuition, if you think there's something to it, there IS. I expect updates promptly, or you can expect me on your doorstep forthwith. stay safe, stay happy, love you sis!
Above is exactly why I love Maggie SO MUCH! I'm having a problem here myself with a hideous woman that I wish Maggie was here to tell off. Anyway, Gemm, darling, your intuition is there for a reason. Trust it. Adrenaline, there for a reason. Listen to what your mind and body is telling you. I was assaulted by two men. I had a "feeling" right before it happened. I'll never make that mistake again. Walking the dog the same time every night? Very dangerous. You must put your foot down. Politely if you must but really, you just can't continue to do this. I think I would pass on to her what happened and suggest that it's not a good idea for HER to walk HER dog at night and certainly very dangerous to walk her dog every night at the same time. She should walk her dog before dark. If she insists on doing it at night she should carry a flashlight (torch?) and some mace is a good idea for anyone, man or woman, to take on night walks. My husband carries Bear Mace when he walks our dogs at night. It's pretty powerful stuff - obviously made to stop a BEAR! You can get it at camping stores. Buy her a can and say "sorry sister, you're own your own" (Well, say something nicer but you know what I mean) You shouldn't need a reason to not walk her dog other than you just don't want to or just can't do it anymore but I know how it is and especially when you live in a small town. I sincerely hope you just say "NO" for several reasons the least of which is you don't want to, the second of which, it's NOT YOUR DOG and the most of which, it's very very dangerous!
My Word! Aren't you the lucky girl to have so many people who care about you? Count me among them. Safety first, Scottie. That's the rule. Honour yourself by setting and enforcing boundaries.
On my way other-sis... Ventura Highways, in the son...shine...
Magz sez "speak softly, and carry a big... attitude!" love ya both ta pieces...
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