A Day Like Any Other
Eradication
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a woman. She was at the dog park and calling out "Rufus!" over and over again. As I approached I wondered why she was calling out my dog's name and when I finally arrived where she was I asked her, "Why are you calling Rufus?"
She replied, "My dog's name is Rufus."
We had a laugh, talked about dogs and over the next few years I've run across her at various times while out at the dog park. She isn't always there, but I see her at least once a week or so; sometimes on the weekend, sometimes during week; in the mornings and occasionally in the afternoon.
The more familiar with her I've become, the less I wanted to be around her, but the friendly chap that I am, I'm always nice, inquire about her day and if possible move on my own way.
Sometimes that's easier said than done.
This morning I arrived at the dog park just as she was walking past the entrance. I said "Hi," and she stopped, talked with me for a few minutes and then asked me if I wanted to walk with her. Since my original plan was to meander with my nose stuck in my Android, I decided the invitation was worth accepting. So, we walked.
After a few minutes I realized why I don't talk to her on the regular basis and sometimes go out of my way to avoid talking to her. She rambled on about this subject and that one, when I tried to reply or offer my own anecdote she'd interrupt and go off on yet another tangent. She was loud and cartoonish in her physical expressions, sometimes raising her arms up over her head and screaming at the sky.
At one point I asked her if she'd seen or spoken with another guy I'd known at the dog park for years. His name is also 'Jason.' She said he was protesting the facility changes at the park by no longer bringing his dogs there for a good time. Following up her explanation of why I haven't seen him in two years she mentioned he was a nice guy (to which I agreed) if greatly misunderstood, like she was (to which I kept my mouth shut).
Being incoherent and lacking basic reasoning skills doesn't automatically make someone misunderstood. Not that Jason didn't have basic reasoning skills, he just couldn't grasp a universe where the world wasn't actively out to get him personally.
This lady (I can't recall her name) is the same way. She then went on to tell me a story I'll paraphrase here:
I agreed with the other couple, if the sign was still 100 feet up the trail and marked the boundary to the off-leash area then the dogs could technically be off leash outside the gate until the sign moved closer to the new gate. The woman responded by becoming louder, "You're an idiot like all those other people. I just wish I could eradicate you! I'm tired of living on this planet with stupid people like you!"
"Whoa, calm down," I said calmly. No one here is upset but you. We're just having a discussion and we happen to disagree. It's okay," I said, tying to calm her down.
"No, it's not. Stupid people like you are ruining everything and you should all be eradicated so the rest of us can live in peace! I'm tired of people like you who can't think and I don't want to be around you anymore."
She'd used the word 'eradicate' a couple of times now and I really was concerned she might be the type to show up the next day with a gun and try shooting everyone who disagreed with her or who was 'stupid.' With the retired police officer shooting a man in a theater recently over texting, people attacking each other over being cut off in traffic or people attacking their neighbors over children crying too loud, her repeated use of the phrase "eradicate people like you" left me concerned for my safety and others around me.
Not one to miss out on an opportunity to point out irony I asked her if it was smart to be screaming about 'eradicating' people while she was dressed like the unabomber. She was in jeans, a blue hoodie pulled up over her head, sunglasses and some sort of neck warmer pulled up to her mouth, leaving only her nose and cheeks exposed.
"I can dress however I want! It's cold out here!"
I replied, "Well, there is a way to solve your problem. It's called suicide."
"No, no, that's the coward's way out," she responded. "The world would be a better place without people like you. You should all be eradicated!" She raised her arms to the sky and shouted, "We need to eradicate all the stupid people, starting with this one!" And she pointed at me.
"I'm just having a discussion," I said. "You're the one one who seems to be having a fit over a simple difference of opinion."
She then tried to explain her opinion, "Then they had a meeting. All those people at the park had a meeting and moved the sign closer to the gate because they knew I was right."
"Or," I replied, "it was scheduled to be moved on a specific date that just happened to be near the same timeframe."
"No!" she interrupted me, "they changed it because I'm right and the off-leash area starts at the gate not over there."
"Well, it does now that they moved the sign." Which, according to her, they moved a couple of days after she watched the other couple keep their dogs off leash outside the gate.
"See? You're an idiot! You're stupid like everyone else and people like you need to be eradicated from this planet! They moved the sign because they realized I was right."
"Oh, so you contacted the park about moving the sign?"
"No," she replied.
"I suppose you were in their planning meetings, then?" I asked.
Exasperated, "No!"
She was not in contact with the park management and yet seems to know exactly what transpired at the park's office. I pointed this discrepancy again.
"Argh! This is why you need to be eradicated! People like you are too stupid to share this planet with!"
After making a couple of personal attacks against my character she stormed off through the gate and back along the trail to the parking lot.
I'll admit, I was annoyed. When did it become impossible for two people to have a civil difference of opinion? I mean, I expect such behavior when the distance of the internet separates two people, but in real life? When did two people discussing something as benign as dog park policies turn into an excuse to threaten a person's safety or to make blanket statements of violence towards a whole subset of people?
With the recent theater shooting in mind I decided to play safer than sorry. I pulled out my cell phone (wishing at the time I'd thought to video record her tirade) and dialed the park rangers. The number is the same for the local sheriff's office and I told the young lady what had transpired, letting her know the woman's repeated use of the term "eradicate" and "you people should be eradicated" left me wondering if she wasn't just a little too unstable. I admitted to the dispatcher that I doubt the woman was armed, but didn't preclude her from returning armed another day. I described her to the dispatcher and told her it's probably nothing, but I didn't think threats like that should be ignored.
The voice on the other end of the phone agreed.
A few moments later a ranger called me and I went over it once again. He asked me to describe the woman and I did, even going so far as to describe her dogs (two ACDs). He said he'd call back if he had any more questions.
I have no idea how this played out once the ranger and I hung up, but I have to assume sooner or later I will see her again and I'll need witnesses.
A long time ago in a galaxy far far away there was a woman. She was at the dog park and calling out "Rufus!" over and over again. As I approached I wondered why she was calling out my dog's name and when I finally arrived where she was I asked her, "Why are you calling Rufus?"
She replied, "My dog's name is Rufus."
We had a laugh, talked about dogs and over the next few years I've run across her at various times while out at the dog park. She isn't always there, but I see her at least once a week or so; sometimes on the weekend, sometimes during week; in the mornings and occasionally in the afternoon.
The more familiar with her I've become, the less I wanted to be around her, but the friendly chap that I am, I'm always nice, inquire about her day and if possible move on my own way.
Sometimes that's easier said than done.
 |
| Dog Park at Cherry Creek State Park |
This morning I arrived at the dog park just as she was walking past the entrance. I said "Hi," and she stopped, talked with me for a few minutes and then asked me if I wanted to walk with her. Since my original plan was to meander with my nose stuck in my Android, I decided the invitation was worth accepting. So, we walked.
After a few minutes I realized why I don't talk to her on the regular basis and sometimes go out of my way to avoid talking to her. She rambled on about this subject and that one, when I tried to reply or offer my own anecdote she'd interrupt and go off on yet another tangent. She was loud and cartoonish in her physical expressions, sometimes raising her arms up over her head and screaming at the sky.
At one point I asked her if she'd seen or spoken with another guy I'd known at the dog park for years. His name is also 'Jason.' She said he was protesting the facility changes at the park by no longer bringing his dogs there for a good time. Following up her explanation of why I haven't seen him in two years she mentioned he was a nice guy (to which I agreed) if greatly misunderstood, like she was (to which I kept my mouth shut).
Being incoherent and lacking basic reasoning skills doesn't automatically make someone misunderstood. Not that Jason didn't have basic reasoning skills, he just couldn't grasp a universe where the world wasn't actively out to get him personally.
This lady (I can't recall her name) is the same way. She then went on to tell me a story I'll paraphrase here:
When they put this gate in I saw some hoity-toity couple left the gate without putting their dog on the leash. I didn't say anything to them, but when we left the gate I made a point of telling Rufus, 'You have to go on leash on this side of the gate unlike some dogs.' The man, you know the tipe, pretentious, like he drives a BMW or an Audi or something, has the nerve to tell me the dog doesn't need to be on leash until the sign over there.At the time, the sign in question was about 100 feet up the trail and it marked the previous dog off leash area boundary. But, as she just admitted, the sign was still there, where it had been years. Since the park hadn't moved the sign, a reasonable person could conclude that the boundary hadn't officially been moved yet the new infrastructure was being put in place.
I agreed with the other couple, if the sign was still 100 feet up the trail and marked the boundary to the off-leash area then the dogs could technically be off leash outside the gate until the sign moved closer to the new gate. The woman responded by becoming louder, "You're an idiot like all those other people. I just wish I could eradicate you! I'm tired of living on this planet with stupid people like you!"
"Whoa, calm down," I said calmly. No one here is upset but you. We're just having a discussion and we happen to disagree. It's okay," I said, tying to calm her down.
"No, it's not. Stupid people like you are ruining everything and you should all be eradicated so the rest of us can live in peace! I'm tired of people like you who can't think and I don't want to be around you anymore."
She'd used the word 'eradicate' a couple of times now and I really was concerned she might be the type to show up the next day with a gun and try shooting everyone who disagreed with her or who was 'stupid.' With the retired police officer shooting a man in a theater recently over texting, people attacking each other over being cut off in traffic or people attacking their neighbors over children crying too loud, her repeated use of the phrase "eradicate people like you" left me concerned for my safety and others around me.
Not one to miss out on an opportunity to point out irony I asked her if it was smart to be screaming about 'eradicating' people while she was dressed like the unabomber. She was in jeans, a blue hoodie pulled up over her head, sunglasses and some sort of neck warmer pulled up to her mouth, leaving only her nose and cheeks exposed.
 |
| Sketch of the Unabomber |
I replied, "Well, there is a way to solve your problem. It's called suicide."
"No, no, that's the coward's way out," she responded. "The world would be a better place without people like you. You should all be eradicated!" She raised her arms to the sky and shouted, "We need to eradicate all the stupid people, starting with this one!" And she pointed at me.
"I'm just having a discussion," I said. "You're the one one who seems to be having a fit over a simple difference of opinion."
She then tried to explain her opinion, "Then they had a meeting. All those people at the park had a meeting and moved the sign closer to the gate because they knew I was right."
"Or," I replied, "it was scheduled to be moved on a specific date that just happened to be near the same timeframe."
"No!" she interrupted me, "they changed it because I'm right and the off-leash area starts at the gate not over there."
"Well, it does now that they moved the sign." Which, according to her, they moved a couple of days after she watched the other couple keep their dogs off leash outside the gate.
"See? You're an idiot! You're stupid like everyone else and people like you need to be eradicated from this planet! They moved the sign because they realized I was right."
"Oh, so you contacted the park about moving the sign?"
"No," she replied.
"I suppose you were in their planning meetings, then?" I asked.
Exasperated, "No!"
She was not in contact with the park management and yet seems to know exactly what transpired at the park's office. I pointed this discrepancy again.
"Argh! This is why you need to be eradicated! People like you are too stupid to share this planet with!"
After making a couple of personal attacks against my character she stormed off through the gate and back along the trail to the parking lot.
I'll admit, I was annoyed. When did it become impossible for two people to have a civil difference of opinion? I mean, I expect such behavior when the distance of the internet separates two people, but in real life? When did two people discussing something as benign as dog park policies turn into an excuse to threaten a person's safety or to make blanket statements of violence towards a whole subset of people?
With the recent theater shooting in mind I decided to play safer than sorry. I pulled out my cell phone (wishing at the time I'd thought to video record her tirade) and dialed the park rangers. The number is the same for the local sheriff's office and I told the young lady what had transpired, letting her know the woman's repeated use of the term "eradicate" and "you people should be eradicated" left me wondering if she wasn't just a little too unstable. I admitted to the dispatcher that I doubt the woman was armed, but didn't preclude her from returning armed another day. I described her to the dispatcher and told her it's probably nothing, but I didn't think threats like that should be ignored.
The voice on the other end of the phone agreed.
A few moments later a ranger called me and I went over it once again. He asked me to describe the woman and I did, even going so far as to describe her dogs (two ACDs). He said he'd call back if he had any more questions.
I have no idea how this played out once the ranger and I hung up, but I have to assume sooner or later I will see her again and I'll need witnesses.
 |
| Rufus Mad at Me For Shoving a Camera in His Face |
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