Three Seats

[H2O Man]

38. Outstanding!

This should be an OP for everyone to read. Required reading, in my opinion.

Most of the people in my general (rural) neighborhood live in similar houses, drive similar vehicles, eat similar foods, send our children to the same schools. When I moved here, one of the neighbors who collects guns & bullets would provide meat to the elderly neighbors every fall during deer hunting season.He still plows people's driveways in the winter months. He is reasonable to talk to, although he did vote for Trump twice. I'm not letting that come between us, and neither is he. But there are a few people -- including some I've known since we were kids in school -- who no longer talk to me. I figure they own the problem, not me. I'm still polite when I see them.

About a month ago, one of their dogs came onto my property late at night, tore through a cage, and killed some of my pullets. It is a hostile dog, and was aggressive towards my son when he was running it off my property. One friend advised me to call the local game warden, but I handled it a different way. I called the owner, who lives across the road, who I hadn't spoken to since Trump's election. I said that I don't blame a dog for being tempted to go through what he considered a drive-through to get some chicken tenders. I didn't plan to shoot a dog for being a dog. But I didn't want my birds killed, either. I said that I would leave it up to him to make sure his dog wasn't out at night, to wander onto my property. Since then, he beeps and waves when he drives by. I know that is a small thing, but small things have a way of building up into big things, either positive or negative. It is up to each of us to decide what role we will play.