The Argentina Post has a suggestion for Buenos Aires' dog poop problem: scoop dispensers located throughout the city. The post is really great, the suggestion is just ok. But somewhere along the way these rude dog-owners or overburdened dogwalkers need to be taught how to be more considerate. Let's face it, there are trashcans all over the city and I've seen plenty of mothers watch their kids drop candy wrappers on the street and not say a word. Being courteous is something we're taught, it doesn't come naturally.
I've been here for a year and a half now. My first date in BA was ruined by dog poop. I've learned since then. There will be no making eye contact with your date while walking. I can't walk around looking at the architecture or the trees or the shop windows. Oh no, my eyes are on the pavement lest I step in a pile of runny feces.
On one part of my block, a disgusting tower of a building is in the final stages of construction. For the past two weeks, they've redone the sidewalk in front. But since no one actually lives there yet, it's also the favorite spot for dog owners to chat on their cell phones while their pet defiles the pretty new sidewalk, the wall, the trees.
Last Saturday, I'd had it. This woman was chatting away, leaning on a car and watching her dog walk two steps and poop, walk two steps and poop, walk two more and poop. I stopped dead in my tracks and gave her a glare. When she finally looked my way, I looked at her dog and glared at her again. She ignored me.
I happened to have a plastic bag in my purse, so I pulled it out and handed it to her. She didn't pick up the trail of turds, just called to her dog and walked away. If I had been more courageous I would have followed her and told her again to pick up her dog's mess. This woman probably threw paper on the sidewalk too and no one has ever told her that the trashcans are for trash. She hasn't been taught.
So this is a call to action. Keep a couple of plastic bags with you and hand them out to dog poop offenders. Glare at them, hand them the bag, and don't back down. If it calls for a showdown, stand your ground. Look, Paris had this problem and the French learned to walk around with baggies of poop. New Yorkers learned too. I'm not going to give up on porteños yet.
13 comments:
When I lived in Aspen, at each park and hiking trail, they had these nifty post mounted plastic baggie dispensers. People would grab two or three and head out on their dog walk/poop. You stick your hand inside the bag, grab/scoop the poop, then turn the back inside out (extracting your hand safely), and walk to the nearest trash can. The only downside is the warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you actually grasp a pile of fresh, warm turds in your hand.
The other option is the plastic grocery bag, but those present their own environmental issues, what with littering, global warming and the price of oil.
Where I live now, on a corner, people just seem to think my yard is their trash can. Cups, wrappers, cigarette butts, disposable Bic lighters - I get a lot of empty lighters for some reason.
Remember in Tejas it was "Drive Friendly" and "Don't litter or we'll hang you in the town square..." or something along those lines...? Just kidding, but still...
People just don't give a shit. Pun intended.
Yea, I think the trend started there. They have those throughout Miami, too. And it's been suggested here. But I don't think many people would use them if they don't even use the trashcans for paper. Maybe too pessimistic.
And you're absolutely right about those friggin plastic bags. There aren't paper bags here. I typically carry my own canvas bags, but there are times when I'm on my way home, don't have my bags, and need to stop at the store. When I have to do that, I bag the stuff myself though. They'll put two things in each bag. In Paris and Italy you had to look at your groceries, decide how many bags you'd need and add those to your cart. I don't remember how much they cost. But needless to say, most people there brought their own bags.
Here, when I tell the cashier I don't need plastic bags, she almost always asks to look inside my canvas bags to make sure I'm not stealing anything. Guess it's a pretty foreign idea.
So, maybe we can't go back to the days of hangings, but for the dog poop offenders, we could start pushing them into their dog's crap. Boom. That's probably a better idea than my first one. Then they'd start to give a shit.
The old Jr. High Friday night trick just popped into my mind...put the dog crap in a paper bag (like a small lunch or pastry bag)...put it on the doorstep of the offending dog owner...light it on fire...ring the door bell...and RUN!!!
They open the door, see the fire, and stomp it out, getting dog crap all over their shoes or even better, their bare feet.
Sorry, I know I'm having too much fun with this....enough...
My fear is it's the nature of the beast...and that it would take a long, long time for people to change...
I seem to have a knack for living in places where people don't clean up after their dogs. I've had a close call but luckily I haven't actually stepped in anything yet.
As for grocery bags, I really liked the system in Italy - most of the time I brought used grocery bags to the store and reused them again and again until they couldn't be used anymore. I'd like to find a good canvas bag now that I'm in Buenos Aires.
People are crazy about putting everything in plastic bags here. You'd think they'd have closets-full to take out when they are walking.
I have to admit that I was a delinquent the other day. The dog I was walking pooped on the sidewalk the minute we left for our walk. I used my bag and threw it away. An hour and a half later on Libertador, two blocks from home, he decided to go again and I didn't have a bag. Luckily it was off the path, but you should have seen me run away. Can you imagine me--a poo offender in Buenos Aires???
I'm taking three bags next time. ;-)
Haha... you had better take three bags or I might just push you right into the pile :-) Or, I'll take Alex's advice since I know where you live. Should you find a burning bag on your doorstep, better not stomp it out. Man, what a butthead I'm being.
Seeing as we all agree that way too many plastic bags get used here, I really don't understand why dog owners don't use them for the obvious. Two problems: dog poop and plastic bags out the wazoo. What an obvious solution.
If we expats all use canvas bags at the supermarkets, we might be able to begin a new fad. Porteños who want to appear wordly may think the canvas bag equals sophistication. It might work.
Pretty shitty subject, just the kind to get lots of comments. My perspective from Florida in the muther country: BA needs a Chinese style program, like the one in the '70s where everyone was expected to kill six flies a day. You know, mobilize and educate the masses. Either that or a Miss Inspirosity on every corner, she is a sweet but tough cookie.
Considering all of the little doggies running around SF, I have to give people serious props here for cleaning up after their dogs. We may have lots of other disgusting things in the streets and sidewalks (eg., used syringes) but at least I haven't stepped in poo once since I moved here.
Hey Charlie Tally.... I'm not that sweet. I'm more like a pit bull with lipstick. Ha! Seriously though, maybe deploying Sarah Palin to BA would clean up the streets. Or better, she could claim she's cleaned them up so that she can walk to work and not spend taxpayers money on those high gas prices. She might even try to sell the baggies on Ebay, and end up selling them to a contributor to her campaign at a loss for her state and then brag about it. Oops. This post was about dog poo. Well, it's sort of related.
Hey Tangobaby... I spent a couple of days in San Francisco back in March and didn't step in any dog poo either. Loved that city, but you guys really took a beating at the RNC last week. How does it feel to be the city most associated with the liberal elitism that middle America hates? I'd be proud, proud, proud!
Actually, my mouth fell open when Sarah Palin went off on San Francisco, and then I laughed! It was just too crazy to be believed. Obviously she won't be coming here to do any fundraising!
Hell yeah, I'm proud. If not being like her is considered elitist, then I'll be the biggest elitist I can!
No dog poop, you have inspirositied me to start my own blog. I call it "Taoist Cowboy's" and I don't even know how to tell you how to get there. I only know how to write and post a blog, which I have done. If you have any advice for a new blogger, I am open.
I think I'm the last person to get advice from about blogging. But if you are doing it just because you like it (and not to get traffic of whatever other reasons there might be), then just start it and write when you feel like it. Every once in a while something you write will start a conversation. That's the fun part. Oh, and tell me where to go to find it.
Post a Comment