Discrimination at its worst

The other day I had the worst – THE WORST – experience of discrimination I’ve ever had in my life. Finn and I were at the park, before 9am so he was off-leash, running around with his little pink ball. I’m walking and throwing the ball, walking and throwing, walking and throwing.

We come upon a group of 3 dog owners with 3 dogs romping around. Big-ish dogs, a german sherpard, a tall, thin dog and a fat fuzzy one. Finn runs over with his ball, and places the ball at the feet of one of the dog owners, while gazing up at them, tail up and butt wagging. The dog owner says to me, “Is that a pitbull?”

And I started to say yes, a mix, part Boxer, maybe a little hound… I started my usual spiel. But before I could get it out, he said, “I don’t want my dog playing with a pit bull. Get that dog out of here.”

The other dog owners were chiming right in, pulling their dogs away as if Finn was a snarling, rabid dog. I was horrified, and pulled him in the other direction, and practically ran us home before my tears came pouring out. The nerve of them! Those fucking idiots. Anyone who owns a dog knows that if a dog’s tail is up and wagging, they’re happy. It’s when they’re down and still that there’s a problem. None of that mattered to these assholes, though, because they made assumptions of Finn’s personality based on his breed and breed alone. Nevermind that he was obviously such a happy dog; nevermind he looks adorable in his light blue Old Navy sweater with stars on it (it was cold that day, I swear). Nevermind he’s running around with a tiny pink dog that looks silly. Merely the mention of those words – pit bull – sent everyone running.

Well, really, it sent me running.

I didn’t know handle that situation at all. It was so shocking – I expect more from my fellow dog owners.

But It made me want to get Finn a shirt to wear with a message on it that might make a racist dog owner think before acting. That’s how I got the name for this blog, actually. I’m going to get him a shirt at CafePress that says “Please Be Kind” on it. I’ll show you a picture of it when I get it made.

Meanwhile, I’ve been overly protective of Finn at the Park now, making sure he doesn’t leave my side. But mostly, I just feel so offended that anyone could ever make such preconceived notions based on appearance alone. This world can be so sick.