San Diego Attitude

Sorry for the gross picture but, yes this is what you think it is, and for the record, no our dogs were not the culprits. This sign is in front of someone's house on the route that I walk every night. Apparently someone did not clean up after their dog relieved himself in this person's yard and I just think it's hilarious because the homeowner's reaction is so typical of San Diego. People here simply do not put up with other people's (or dogs') you-know-what. The fact that this person went to the trouble of actually taking a picture of the you-know-what, blowing it up to an 8x10, and making a sign out of it is so classic. 

I don't know if it's this attitude that has rubbed off on me lately or if it's, as Paul calls it, my "preg-itude" but I've recently begun to not put up with people's you-know-what too. I really think it must be a mixture of both: my sense of self-protection for the sake of the baby and the freedom from the Southern imperative to be polite. 

For example, a normal-looking, but creepy-acting man walked up to me in the greeting card aisle at Target a couple of weeks ago and said, "Can I ask you a favor?" Normally I would have smilingly said "Sure!" but, for some reason, I just blurted out, "No." He said, "Just like that... no?" and I said, "No" and proceeded to stare him down until he walked off. I'll never know whether he wanted me to help him pick out a card for his wife or to abduct and murder me; all I know is that my top priority is to protect myself and my unborn child and if that means being rude to a creepy stranger then so be it. Luckily for me, out here people expect rudeness so this new attitude isn't as appalling as it would be if I were in Jackson, TN. 

I'll give you another example of my "pregi-tude" that happens on a fairly regular basis these days. I have started to become infuriated by people who text while driving. This probably started after I was nearly run off the road a couple of months ago by a lady swerving on the freeway. When I regained my lane and pulled up next to her she was texting in the middle of six lanes of traffic! So now, whenever I'm driving next to someone texting in their car, I honk angrily to get their attention and then wag my finger at them. Wow, that's kind of embarrassing... but, like I said, when it comes to my safety I just can't sit back and let people metaphorically poop in my yard. :)