Shame on me

Yesterday morning I was outside, yanking my summer umbrellas out of the ground, and folding them up preparing to store them for winter. I knew I was going to have to let them dry out for a couple of days, because of the lovely rain we had this week.

Of course, Zorro was out with me and he began to do his dance up and down the fence line so I knew somebody must be walking their dog down the street.  Lo, it was Bird Lady and her dog.  She did not see me, but I had clear vision of her.  

Well, my, my, my.

Ms. (we have to obey the laws) Bird Lady, turned the corner leading over to the school property to walk her dog and, as she did...she unleashed her dog.  Wow, I thought...wow!  Then, even more surprising, she kept walking while her dog pranced across the street, squatted and pooped!  

Did she turn around to bag her dogs 'business'?  No, she did not.

Well, color me stupefied!  Which by the way is the color of the three day old bruise you get after you've walked into the edge of your coffee table.

I could not believe my eyes.  However, I put this incident out of my mind, because as I was folding the second umbrella a bunch of rain water sloshed out from under the new cover I'd installed over the original one, and I got my feet wet.  Ugh!

After that I went about my chores while waiting for my groceries to arrive.  As I was finishing putting the last of the canned goods away, Devil whispered in my ear.

Devil:  "Did you see what Bird Lady did this morning?"

Me:  "What?"

Devil:  "Bird Lady, do you remember what she did this morning?"

I wrack my brain, what the heck is he talking about.  

Devil:  " 'Bird Lady' broke the law.  She took her dog off the leash."

Me:  "Holy smoke, you're right!"  Oh, that revelation was wonderfully glorious.

Devil:  "Even more," he hissed, "though it's not a law, she did not pick up her doggies poopie, did she?"

I'm stunned, this was the lady who went around the school property and installed 'poopie stations' filled with plastic bags so people would have no excuse to not bag their doggies poopies.  And, today she did not bag that of her own doggy.

Well, my, my, my.

Devil:  (Filled with glee.)  "Oh, goody, let's call somebody...we've got to report this.  She broke the law, she broke the law."  

Devil was dancing around on my should so delighted he almost fell off. Sadly, at that moment I was indeed sorely tempted to agree with him, I very badly wanted to call somebody.

It suddenly occurred to me Angel was nowhere around.  It's unlike her not to chime in.  This revelation gave me pause, as I always appreciate her input.  Apparently I was going to have to handle this on my own.  

I brushed Devil off my shoulder.  It had taken several years for me to forgive Bird Lady for reporting me to the city Health Department, and the lifting of that weight was of great comfort to me.  I could retaliate, this was a perfect opportunity.  But, I thought better of it.  We are all guilty of imperfections, we all err.  Perhaps, she was having a bad day, perhaps she was deep in a perplexing situation...who am I to judge. Someday karma will intervene, that's her job not mine.

Shame on me, Devil almost made me do a bad, bad thing.