When I was a Freshman at BYU I took an oil painting class and one of our assignments was to paint something from our childhood. I painted a picture of Soopy - my most vivid memory. I would walk home from Wasatch Elementary and this dog would stand on the balcony of my neighbor's home and bark at me. I was too scared to walk by him so I would turn and walk all the way around the block to avoid him.
This painting hangs on the wall above the toilet in my guest bathroom.
The following exerpt was taken from my personal history that I put together for my mom and dad for Christmas:
When I was little there was a girl who was two years older than me that lived across the street named LB. Ann Dee and I played with her and she would always have this dumb little dog with her named Soopy. Soopy was not her dog, it was another neighbor’s dog and I was terrified of him. I hated Soopy and he would always bark at me. LB thought it was funny and so she would say, “sick her” all the time and I really thought that Soopy was going to "sick me". Whenever we played with LB, I’d make Ann Dee go over there first and then call me at 377-9083 and let me know if Soopy was there or not. Then I’d go over if it was safe. My mom used to make Ann Dee and I take some meat cuttings to Susan Ream’s dogs. She lived on Briar and that was seriously the scariest thing in the world to me because although she never let her dogs near us they would come to the door and bark when we rang the doorbell and they were BIG dogs. I HATED HATED HATED doing that but my mom was all about facing your fears.
The other morning on my walk with Larry these two dogs were let out I'm sure to go pee or something and they came running over to me and started barking and jumping up on me. I froze, closed my eyes, grabbed Larry by the arm and started saying, "Save me, save me". I was terrified.
That very day at work my student employees at the museum (the ones who give the live animal shows) were joking about how they were going to sneak a snake into my office. I overheard them and I proceeded to give them a big lecture about being sensitive to people's phobias - I even told them the story of my walk with Larry and about the dogs that jumped up on me. I could tell that they didn't really relate.
When I was a missionary, the first thing I always told my new companions was that they were responsible to keep the dogs away from me whenever we went into a home with dogs. Luckily I never had a companion that was as scared of dogs as I was so this plan worked.
This photo was copied from Naomi's blog
My favorite all time movie is the Sound of Music. I think I like it so much because I could always relate to the song "My Favorite Things". Remember the line ... "when the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad ...".
It was months before I finally went over to Sam's house when they first got their dog, Roxie.
I'm starting to wonder if this is a problem that I need to face. I have a hard time feeling compassion for people who are sad about the passing of their pets. I mean they tell me that their dog was a member of their family but I really just don't get that - it's a dog. I know this is a controversial subject so please don't be offended. When Vega died on Halloween and I sorta joked a bit about it at a work meeting, I could tell that some of my student employees at the Bean (the hard core animal lovers) did not appreciate my humor. It seems that I need to be a bit more sensitive too.
One of my friends told me recently that I needed to get a dog so I could learn to be more affectionate. While this plan may work just think how gross that would be. I might learn to be more affectionate but then what? I start hugging everyone while I'm all covered in dog hair? SICK!
Remember that being offended is a choice especially when no offense is intended.
Do I have a problem?
This painting hangs on the wall above the toilet in my guest bathroom.
The following exerpt was taken from my personal history that I put together for my mom and dad for Christmas:
When I was little there was a girl who was two years older than me that lived across the street named LB. Ann Dee and I played with her and she would always have this dumb little dog with her named Soopy. Soopy was not her dog, it was another neighbor’s dog and I was terrified of him. I hated Soopy and he would always bark at me. LB thought it was funny and so she would say, “sick her” all the time and I really thought that Soopy was going to "sick me". Whenever we played with LB, I’d make Ann Dee go over there first and then call me at 377-9083 and let me know if Soopy was there or not. Then I’d go over if it was safe. My mom used to make Ann Dee and I take some meat cuttings to Susan Ream’s dogs. She lived on Briar and that was seriously the scariest thing in the world to me because although she never let her dogs near us they would come to the door and bark when we rang the doorbell and they were BIG dogs. I HATED HATED HATED doing that but my mom was all about facing your fears.
The other morning on my walk with Larry these two dogs were let out I'm sure to go pee or something and they came running over to me and started barking and jumping up on me. I froze, closed my eyes, grabbed Larry by the arm and started saying, "Save me, save me". I was terrified.
That very day at work my student employees at the museum (the ones who give the live animal shows) were joking about how they were going to sneak a snake into my office. I overheard them and I proceeded to give them a big lecture about being sensitive to people's phobias - I even told them the story of my walk with Larry and about the dogs that jumped up on me. I could tell that they didn't really relate.
When I was a missionary, the first thing I always told my new companions was that they were responsible to keep the dogs away from me whenever we went into a home with dogs. Luckily I never had a companion that was as scared of dogs as I was so this plan worked.
This photo was copied from Naomi's blog
It was months before I finally went over to Sam's house when they first got their dog, Roxie.
I'm starting to wonder if this is a problem that I need to face. I have a hard time feeling compassion for people who are sad about the passing of their pets. I mean they tell me that their dog was a member of their family but I really just don't get that - it's a dog. I know this is a controversial subject so please don't be offended. When Vega died on Halloween and I sorta joked a bit about it at a work meeting, I could tell that some of my student employees at the Bean (the hard core animal lovers) did not appreciate my humor. It seems that I need to be a bit more sensitive too.
One of my friends told me recently that I needed to get a dog so I could learn to be more affectionate. While this plan may work just think how gross that would be. I might learn to be more affectionate but then what? I start hugging everyone while I'm all covered in dog hair? SICK!
Remember that being offended is a choice especially when no offense is intended.
Do I have a problem?
