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September 23, 2008
Barking mad
I found myself shouting 'Fuck off' to a dog the other morning - and I don't recount the incident with pride.
It can of course be scary, running in the dark, when a dog suddenly appears from the gloom, barking at your feet. And I have been bitten a few times down my running years.
But my response on this occasion was unworthy. This dog was not the hound of the baskervilles, and did not deserve my terror. I immediately apologised to the owner as she appeared out of the deep dawn shadows. She was apologising to me as it happened, which was nice - but irrelevant. The shame was mine.
'I'm sorry,' I said. 'That was unworthy.'
I then knelt down to apologise to my friend the dog - but he remained suspicious, despite my out stretched arm.
Four seconds of madness arising from deep primal fears, that frankly, should have had their day. While they live in me, I'm the one whose barking mad.
Posted by Mr Bojangles at September 23, 2008 04:48 PM