When did it get this bad.....

Augustine Meyers (those who knew him called him Auggie) was sitting on his couch one afternoon when he realized he hadn't walked his two dogs, Peanut and Jelly, for the past two weeks. He sat there one finger on the remote control and one eye out the backyard door. His two pit bull mixes sat lazily under a shady plum tree in his yard. Their bellies looked extra big and extra soft. His guilt was battling with his tremendous laziness that yearned to see what was showing on the FoodNetwork. But as if the dogs could sniff the possibily of a walk in the air, they both lumbered up to the glass backyard door and sat on their haunches. These weren't just puppy dog eyes they were giving Auggie. They were "how-can-you-live-with-yourself-you selfish-human-don't-you-know-animal-neglect-is-a-crime" puppy dog eyes. Auggie went to put on his walking shoes and made a mental note to cough up the extra bucks for the really good doggie snacks.

Augustine realized that he hadn't been out about in his neighborhood for awhile. Litter and trash skipped in the cool spring breeze. People's lawns were unkept and riddled with crabgrass and weeds. What happened to this neighborhood? When did it get this bad?

Peanut sniffed at an empty fast food bag and Auggie pulled him away. "Stop it, Peanut. You don't know what's in there." Auggie saw a shapely woman standing at the corner at the end of the street smoking a cigarette. Auggie wondered if he should turn around and walk the other way or just walk by her briskly pretending she were invisible. Then he felt bad for judging this woman as being some kind of threat. How silly. She's probably just waiting for a ride or something. Auggie crossed over to the other side of the street and walked a little faster to avoid eye contact.

The woman took one last puff of her cigarette. She pulled out her pack and slid a fresh cigarette through her fingers. Her eyes darted to Auggie, "GOT A LIGHT?"

Auggie didn't slow down in time to reply to the woman. He didn't realize it until a few minutes later but he had been sprinting. He stopped when he felt he was a safe distance from the woman. "Peanut...(pant, pant)...Jelly (pant, pant)...did you see that? There's prostitutes in our neighborhood."

Auggie regained his composure and started to walk again. Peanut and Jelly occasionally looked up at him to see if he was alright. Auggie decided that he would walk another block and then head back home. All of a sudden a group of about 5 or 6 children were seen up ahead walking from a dilapidated home. Auggie slowed down a bit. One time Peanut tried to bite one child who was throwing rocks into their yard. He had a sudden image of each of the children pulling out a bag of rocks from their pockets and pelting him and his companions to death. How silly.

He crossed the street and tried to walk fast to avoid the children running up to them and asking to pet the dogs. But it wasn't fast enough.

"Hey look at them dogs." One of the younger kids proclaimed. They all turned to Auggie's direction. They started to walk closer. Auggie began to sweat. "Umm...be careful..don't get too close. They might bite." He hoped the mere word "bite" would make them back off. The older kids stopped but the young one proceeded toward them. "Them yo' dogs?"

Auggie rolled his eyes. "Of course, they're my dogs." He wondered why he hadn't bought a house near a lake or park where he could walk his dogs in peace.

The young one held out her hand toward Jelly. All of a sudden Jelly jerked away and gave a loud growl. Auggie pulled her toward him. "Jelly-NO!"

The young one stopped in her tracks and looked hurt. "That dog is ugly."

Auggie gasped. He thought his two dogs were adorable.

The girl began to walk away back to the group of other kids. "That's the ugliest dog, I've ever seen."

Auggie thought of the various rebuttals he could shout. "Well, you're the ugliest little child I've ever seen!" he imagined himself saying. How he'd grimace devilishly as the child began to cry. If only....

But Auggie was an adult and that was a child. So he just walked away back toward his house. Prostitues and little rude children running around his neighborhood. Trash and unkept yards. How the house values must be plummeting as we speak...