Sirotablog
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. David writes about political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties.
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July 4, 2007 8:58 AM
Dog-Haters of the World Unite to Fight Crisis of Having to Drink Lattes Near Fido
I realize I just moved to Denver from Montana - a place where I got used to the "rugged individualism" meme being pretty intense, so I may be a bit sensitive. Still, I can't help but wondering over at SquareState and ColoradoPols whether is this some sort of bad joke?
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About David Sirota
David Sirota is a political journalist and nationally syndicated newspaper columnist at Creators Syndicate. He is the New York Times bestselling author of Hostile Takeover. He lives in Denver, Colorado. His daily blog can be found at CREDO Action. He contributes regularly to the Denver Post's Web site, is a senior editor at In These Times magazine and is working on his second book. He has been profiled in Newsweek and the Rocky Mountain News and is widely known for his reporting on political corruption, globalization and working-class economic issues often ignored by both of America's political parties. Sirota serves as co-chair of the Progressive States Network, a 501(c)3 organization that supports state legislators and that is a partner of CREDO.
You can subscribe to Sirota's e-mail newsletter by going to davidsirota.com and signing up in the lefthand corner. To find out more about Sirota, download his official biography or see his recent media appearances. You can e-mail him at sirota@credoaction.com.
The views expressed on this blog are his own, and do not necessarily represent the views of Working Assets (publisher of CREDO Action) or the institutions Sirota works for.
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Discussion
Sad fact is, people tend to spend more time training their dogs than they do their children any more. Banning dogs from outdoor patios is rather silly as far as I'm concerned, especially if you're still allowing children to go there.
I guess time will tell if banning dogs from outdoor patios results in a loss of business for the owners who ban them.
Dogs on patios are ok IMO.
Though I'd much rather be for banning children in coffeeshops and restuarants given the way that most parents let their children run amok like rabid beasts.
I have to disagree. If you own a dog fine, keep it in your yard, or in your house, or even walk it on a leash. I really don't think public places like a restaurant or coffee shop are the proper places for peoples pets or animals.
I hope "Whatever" above is joking about children and I assume you are, but it did make me think. I have noticed how our society in some ways is becoming almost anti-children. I don't know if it the rise in American selfishness or a symptom of the me-generation, but I do find it disturbing.
Regards,
Wow! I have never had a problem with children in any setting that I can remember, but then again I like children. What detailed problems are you all having with children? I have never experienced them before.
Regards,
It is the difference between indoor and outdoor. I see no reason why dogs should not be allowed to step off the sidewalk (they are still allowed to walk down the sidewalk on a leash, aren't they?) into an OUTDOOR (all caps in case your eyesight is failing you) patio restaurant. If they're well behaved and stay next to their owner, you shouldn't either.
The you must not like children accusation is rather silly and petty. It's also a fabrication of your imagination.
I was a member of a large family. I had four of my own who I took out when small specifically to let them learn that I was in control and to get them past the temper tantrums while they were still too little to make much of a scene. I always expected them to behave. For some reason that makes the children who I see, far too often, throwing tantrums and running amuck while mom or dad stands there saying "Susie...Susie...We don't do that Susie", look just so much worse than a well trained dog. If you want to see these kids in action, go into any McDonald's type restaurant, Wal-Mart type variety store, or toy store. Compared to them, a dog can look pretty good.
I'm not anti-child, I'm anti-unruly child running amok. The problem today is that a lot of parents don't discipline their kids and as result they are out of control a lot of times. As Whatever said, go to any Wal-Mart, toy store or from my experience Buffet style restuarants and you'll see these little barbarians going apeshit. Whats worse is that thanks to our lawsuit happy ways proprietors cannot tell the parents to control their kids lest the store find itself in a multi-million dollar lawsuit for discrimination.
And in those instance a dog looks much better than
the little human.
In the end though I don't blame the kids, I blame the brain dead lazy ass parents who think the TV and school system are their to rear their spawn while they they vegetate or do whatever bozos do.
waltc is correct about the parents not taking care of their kids. I used to be the victim of school/neighbor bullies and realized that their parents knowingly accept their kids' bad behavior. In fact, before I had to go to private school, I got shot in public school and nearly lost my life. The parents of the kid who shot me refused to come to court and we won but I realized growing up from 7th grade to 12th in private school that parents are ultimately responsible. Unfortunately, in today's society, the problems are compounded by couples having to work more, rise in abusive/pugnacious marriages often times ending in divorce, refusal to care for their kids and get them caught up, etc ... Even in households where one of the parents does not overwork, without both the mother and father to come together and nurture their child(ren), family values continues to die out and we're instead stuck with two political extremes playing politics with people's lives. Thankfully, my wife and I each made honest attempts to avoid the various pitfalls and we're happy as hell to make sure our children are mentally and socially equipped and prepared in life.
P.S.: We have a cat for a pet as well as two kids and we've been able to balance taking care of our pets and children. Of course, it might have been harder with dogs than with cats.
By the way speaking of dogs, here's a MAJOR EMBARRASSMENT on the FAILED HEALTHCARE FOR PROFIT system.
Why Is My Dog's Health Care Better Than Mine?
By Sharon Glassman, HuffingtonPost.com. Posted June 29, 2007.
"Whatever", if you would have read carefully what I wrote I was assuming you were joking. But your statement made me reflect on how there seems often to be this anti-children pathology in our country. I do think it is in relation to a growing selfishness among Americans, the pampered adults of today are the product of the me-generation, and "suffering little children" (to paraphrase Jesus) and a little noise in a restaurant or store seems to be beyond their capacities or endurance.
While writing my note to "Whatever" and posting it, I then went back to re-read my first note, and had seen that in the meanwhile "waltc" had posted a note. I was amazed that his note seemed to seriously attack children and their parents, in it referring to many children as "like rabid beasts". My second note was only reflecting on the irony of his note being written as I was writing my first note.
Remember we are a nation where many dogs and pets (and other animals) live in better conditions than many of our children.
I apologize. I took what you said wrong. However, if you try to apply "anti-child" to me, you couldn't be more wrong. Large families require someone to be in control of the kids. That's the way I was raised and that's the way I raised my own kids.
I've seen kids walking and jumping on restaurant furniture in their parent's view without any consequences, putting stuffed toys which their parents have no intention of buying on the floor of the store and sitting on them (who wants to be a new used stuffed toy?), throwing screaming, howling tantrums because mom or dad refused to buy something for them or in one case, a 10 or 11 year old laying down on the floor, kicking and screaming because his mother told him he couldn't go somewhere. It was appalling. This has always been something of a sore point with me. In comparison to some of these kids, dogs do look good. That's why I said that if kids could be there, dogs should be allowed too.
Latte in hand, while shopping at an indoor/outdoor upscale venue in the SF Bay area last month with my chocolate beagle, I received an offer to write for a publisher best known for challenging the status quo.
Don't underestimate the power of dogopomorphism!
Happy 4th of July!
Having had both kids and dogs, I see nothing wrong with either of them on outdoor patios.
However, there are parents who should be banned. Rampaging children, and badly behaved dogs, are both the fault of the adults in the family.
Kids and dogs BOTH need to be taught "NO" and have it made to stick.
Dog owners with undisciplined dogs, AND parents with undisciplined kids should both be banned from public spaces and made to take parenting/dog training classes. Repeat offenders should be fined. After all there's driving schools for bad drivers, right?
Once more, I must apologize. It wasn't my fault though.
It seems my oldest cat, cantankerous, conservative, and anti-canine, upon failing in his mission to muster Tancredo and ICE's Illegal Dog Immigration Task Force on an emergency Monty mutt-hunt after a mug shot appeared making it known that Sirota's mongrel had meandered here from Montana, well, after that mission misfired, my mindful mouser made haste to muster Denver's city management to minimize Monty's metropolitan mobility.
Knowing that Sirota is actually a higher-education hippie at heart, my cat pondered, where do highfalutin' hemp-wearers, hankering for a high-speed internet hookup, hang out? While hugging hairy helpers?
Thus the current controls on canine coffee shop congress...
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