Gone to the dogs.

We went to the mall on Sunday, mostly to walk. It was over 100 degrees outside and we were feeling lethargic and lazy. I suppose that's what Sunday's are for but we thought it would be good to get out of the house and get some exercise.

It turns out that teenagers still hang out at malls. The girls walk in packs and dress alike, wearing clothes that seem a tad too scanty to my old eyes. Innocent enough, though. They're trolling for attention - in real life rather than on social media. Were we that different? I don't know. I don't remember hanging out in malls.

What surprised me was the dogs. There were several. All were leashed but none of them wore a Service Dog vest. There was a lot of barking that echoed in the crowded mezzanine.

I get that it was too hot for owners to just let their dogs out in the yard, too hot to take them for a walk. But part of the reason for dogs to go outside is to relieve themselves and it was disgusting to see that at least one dog had done just that in the mall. We made a couple of laps around the mall's second story and each time passed a pile of excrement at the intersection of busy walkways. In that time, the owner hadn't come back to clean up its pet's mess.

I have never been a dog owner so I maybe I can't relate but when owners fail to clean up after their dogs, it sort of ruins it for other dog owners. I suspect there are circumstances when it's difficult or impossible to do the right thing in a given moment. But the more I see of dog poop, whether it's in a mall or in my community, the more I come to believe that this is not the case. Rather, I start to see all dog owners as irresponsible. (I know that's unfair because most of the people I know are dog owners and I see them all as responsible.)

Nevertheless, no amount of bitching will make the poop pick itself up. It's infuriating and yet I don't have the time or energy to be infuriated. Well, maybe enough time, at least, to write this post.

Anyway, maybe next weekend, I'll go for a bike ride instead.