Dogshit and the Responsible Citizen

What do you think when you see a person bending over to pick up a lump (if they are lucky) of dogshit while their dog waits with an air of patient condescension to get on with its walk? Do you think "There goes a responsible pet-owner fulfilling his or her civic function with regard to their dog and showing the correct consideration for his or her fellow citizens!" or do you think "Look at that poor sap picking up dogshit, and note also the smirk on the dog's face..."?

The picking up of dogshit is not something I really want to dwell on, but the question of cleaning up after your dog throws light on a person's approach to their civic duties. I don't throw litter and I have even been known on a rare occasion to pick up somebody else's (I also rescue earthworms who find themselves stranded on the concrete after rain, but that is a slightly different matter) but I do find it hard to stoop to handle and dispense with Freddie's excrement. I feel a curious mix of heroism and humiliation when I place a plastic bag in my pocket before a walk.

My current policy is largely influenced by whether or not the dog has been observed shitting, and where. If I'm on a country road and nobody is about I am happy to consider the dog's droppings a gift to nature and a contribution to the country air; if I am near houses and bins I make the effort to demonstrate my sense of civic spirit by bending over to pick the shit up. If the dog has been observed by another pedestrian and the pedestrian looks like they might have an opinion about a dog-turd being left in their path, I generally do the right thing; but if the incident is observed by slow-moving traffic, I tend to hover over the shit, looking like I am going to do something about it, and then proceed when the traffic is out of the way.

I also don't know if I am more embarrassed to be seen picking up the dog shit or not picking up the dog shit. I should really have developed enough of a sense of my own self, and of right and wrong, not to be so easily led by the opinions of others, but there you go.

What does my unprincipled approach to dogshit tell me about the deeper workings of my soul? Well, for one thing, my conscience requires a public. The continued dance of seduction between my sense of duty and my personal convenience is conducted through the specific circumstances of Freddie's crapping. I hope some day to achieve an ungrudging and unsupervised sense of responsibility to my fellow citizens when it comes to this, but while I am working towards this state of political maturity I can only promise to try to overcome my natural selfishness for the good of my neighbours and, indeed, of the country and the Irish people generally.