Otown - the Good and the Annoying

Doing whatever you want has pluses and minuses. For example, at Oakland Art Murmur this past Friday, walking down the street we became included in a stranger's conversation about emotions and decisions. This was cool. We also made a friend at a bar, who took us to another bar where we heard a cool local band (Kapowski). These are pluses. Unfortunately, someone in our neighborhood didn't pick up after their dog who shat all over Christian's motorcycle cable. A stationwagon consistently parks exactly where Christian's cable is, preventing him from parking on the street (his bike is currently on the sidewalk). These are negatives. But, this is Oakland, and people clearly do what they want.

I'm not sure exactly how I feel about it. Life, after all, is really about the day to day. Sure, big things are influential, but life is the summation of those little moments. It's why laundry is imortant, and taking out the garbage. It's why holding hands is important. So, those little negatives...repeating...do impact quality of life. I haven't decided how much, however.

Maybe if I put a note on that person's car they'd get the hint? Or would it make them angry? Or ashamed? Should I leave a note on the tree in front of my stoop asking people nicely to pick up their dog's poop? Do I need to sit outside every morning typing away on my laptop to make sure people don't let their dogs poop on our things? You'd think this was common courtesy...but apparently I need to enforce it.

It is Oakland, however. People do what they want.

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