What to do when your neighbors Facebook shame you
My 19-year-old son took our dog for a walk. Like many young (and old) men, he wasn't inclined to pick up the stuff that our dog dumped on her walk.
So he left it there and walked on.
The neighbor saw this occur in front of his house, on his street, and he didn't like it.
In fact, he didn't like it so much that he took a photo of our dog and posted it on our neighborhood's Facebook page.
I discovered the wall of shame after I got off from a long day of work. At about 10 p.m., right as I was getting ready for bed.
I was EMBARRASSED. Because by the time I discovered the post, about a dozen neighbors had posted their opinions on how the event should be handled, which included picking up a bag of other people's dog poop and leaving it at our doorstep. THESE PEOPLE HAD ALL DAY WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN DISCUSS DOG POOP.
By this time, my son had taken our dog for an evening walk. Uh. Oh. He's predictable and takes the same routes, and my dog is predictable, too.
I quick got on the phone and had my son come home before any further natural fertilizer could be deposited.
I sent my neighbor a private message and apologized for my son's inconsiderate behavior.
At first I thought there might be a chance the poop was still in the street so while I waited for my neighbor's response, I drove by his house prepared to clean it up in the middle of the night like some stealth reconnaissance mission. But, too late, it was already smeared into the road.
My next dilemma was to decide if I should out myself on the public forum. I decided to. My dog is recognizable so I figured no use trying to pretend it's not us. IT WAS A VERY GOOD PICTURE THE NEIGHBOR TOOK. I acknowledged the dog was mine and apologized to the WHOLE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD AND EXPRESSED MY MORTIFICATION at being called out as I was.
I had many acknowledgements of my post and several suggestions of how I should handle my son, including making him take a bag and pick up dog poop that other neighbors hadn't cleaned up on their walks. Uh. no. That would never work.
My reaching out to my neighbor with an apology was all the guy needed. He sent me a private message thanking me for validating his concern and acknowledged he had a young adult son who didn't always use best judgement, either. He also gave me credit on Facebook that I "seemed like a nice person."
Then, he took down the post.
I think I'll buy my dog another collar so she won't be recognized on our future walks.
So he left it there and walked on.
 |
| This is not my son. This is someone Else's son. They have a good son. He might have been paid to pick up the poop in this staged photo.That's the only way my son would do it. |
In fact, he didn't like it so much that he took a photo of our dog and posted it on our neighborhood's Facebook page.
I discovered the wall of shame after I got off from a long day of work. At about 10 p.m., right as I was getting ready for bed.
I was EMBARRASSED. Because by the time I discovered the post, about a dozen neighbors had posted their opinions on how the event should be handled, which included picking up a bag of other people's dog poop and leaving it at our doorstep. THESE PEOPLE HAD ALL DAY WITH NOTHING BETTER TO DO THAN DISCUSS DOG POOP.
By this time, my son had taken our dog for an evening walk. Uh. Oh. He's predictable and takes the same routes, and my dog is predictable, too.
I quick got on the phone and had my son come home before any further natural fertilizer could be deposited.
I sent my neighbor a private message and apologized for my son's inconsiderate behavior.
At first I thought there might be a chance the poop was still in the street so while I waited for my neighbor's response, I drove by his house prepared to clean it up in the middle of the night like some stealth reconnaissance mission. But, too late, it was already smeared into the road.
My next dilemma was to decide if I should out myself on the public forum. I decided to. My dog is recognizable so I figured no use trying to pretend it's not us. IT WAS A VERY GOOD PICTURE THE NEIGHBOR TOOK. I acknowledged the dog was mine and apologized to the WHOLE ENTIRE NEIGHBORHOOD AND EXPRESSED MY MORTIFICATION at being called out as I was.
I had many acknowledgements of my post and several suggestions of how I should handle my son, including making him take a bag and pick up dog poop that other neighbors hadn't cleaned up on their walks. Uh. no. That would never work.
My reaching out to my neighbor with an apology was all the guy needed. He sent me a private message thanking me for validating his concern and acknowledged he had a young adult son who didn't always use best judgement, either. He also gave me credit on Facebook that I "seemed like a nice person."
Then, he took down the post.
I think I'll buy my dog another collar so she won't be recognized on our future walks.
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