Before I met my husband I lived on the ground floor of and old house. The landlord lived on the second floor and his sister lived in the basement. One of the first things I was told about the neighborhood was to watch out for the lady across the street. She was reportedly a mean old woman who loved to spend her days calling the police to tow away any car parked on the street in front of her house. I was told to make sure and tell all my friends not to park there.
I usually take this kind of thing in stride. Maybe people were mean to her. Who knows why she likes to have cars towed. Maybe there was a good reason. I was incredibly busy so I didn’t have much time to hang out in the neighborhood, but I did smile and wave whenever I saw her.
One day I was walking my beloved little dog. Wouldn’t you know she decided to do her business right in front of that lady’s house? Normally I carried something to pick the poop up with should that happen, but this time I was empty handed. I decided to walk to the end of the street before returning. As I neared my house to go get something, the lady came pounding out of her house yelling and waving her arm at me and telling me in no uncertain terms to get that out of her yard. I didn’t trust myself to talk to her with her shouting ugly words at me, so I just nodded and went inside to get something.
I came back out with a bag in hand and thankfully the woman was gone. I walked over to her lawn looking for the mess, but couldn’t find it. I stood there puzzled for a moment. As mad as she was I couldn’t risk leaving it there…but where was it. She once again appeared in her doorway and shouted, “Never mind I already threw it in your yard!”
I was mad. How rude! I wish I could say that I handled it beautifully and loved her the way Christ has loved me, in spite of my sinfulness, but I didn’t. I turned around and went back to my house leaving her standing in her door way. What a wasted opportunity on my part!
Nearly the exact same thing happened to me! My dog pooped in this guys yard and I picked it up, but he yelled at me anyway, saying “You can never get it all off the ground.” I was stunned, he cursed and screamed. The next day, there was dog poop on my front porch. Don’t feel bad about a missed opportunity, because what could you do in that situation? She wouldn’t have listened to a single word you said. All you could do was be a good testimony, smile and wave like you did. She saw that you came back to pick it up, so maybe she felt a little guilty later.
There are people whose hearts have turned cold. Only they can change, but often they don’t want to. I’ve been in your situation. I usually carry something to pick it up with, but one time or another I’ve forgotten. I will usually go back and clean it up. People who pick it up and throw it back in another’s yard are so full of hatred. They are beyond our help. All we can do is pray for them and turn them over to God.
I know we’ve all wasted opportunities. However, in this instance, I don’t think she would of cared to hear anything about Jesus…just pray for her. Thanks for telling the story. I found it pretty amusing….
@Bryan Ha ha no I don’t think preaching would have helped, but kindness maybe. Who knows? 🙂
Well that was pretty rude alright..actually I think saying nothing IS doing the right thing in this situation. You really cannot talk to people like that. Even if you had said you were sorry or whatever..usually people so easily antogonized will not respond well anyway..just my opinion 🙂
We have a similar thing happen to us. Dogs poop. That’s a reality. I think you handled the situation well.
Hey there, following you back from the UBP link up. I tried to respond to your email but you have a no reply setting on your profil, just wanted to let you know!
I have to tell you, we are so spoiled in the United States when it comes to Dog Poop. In the Netherlands, people love their dogs. Literally everyone I know has at least one. But they let them poop wherever they want. You have to stare at the ground as you walk down the sidewalk so that you don’t have an accident. And not just in neighborhoods, either, in the cities, too. We live a block from a mall that’s half inside and half outside. I commonly see piles in the middle of the outdoor walkways and it doesn’t even surprise me anymore to see it in the indoor hallways. In fact, one time, I saw a pile of poop inside a restaurant. If it happens to her a lot, then I kind of understand where she’s coming from with the anger. Throwing feces, on the other hand, is for monkeys.
Did she grab it and throw it with her bare hand? LOL