Poo Foot

Reflections on social media

Photo by Erika Fletcher on Unsplash

Poo foot - A situation in which a dog steps in a previous poo pile, and it squishes between the pads of their feet like mud between the toes but smellier.

***

Coming home after an afternoon of errands, I put the dogs out. Lizzie and Ronnie both attended to their respective businesses and came back in. After puttering for a moment or two, I saw it…the little trail of poo-inked paw prints across the vinyl plank flooring and then carpet. Judging from the size, I knew who was responsible.

LIZZIE!!!

I went racing after her with a wet paper towel determined to grab her before she got too far.

Lizzie heard my tone and ran. We had a little chase resulting in more poo prints. Sometimes honestly, you’d think I’d never been around dogs before. I meaning Dog 101 states that if you run, they run…it can be you chasing them or them chasing you…either way unless you are trying to exercise them or yourself, stay put.

When I finally stopped running long enough to have a look at Lizzie, her tail was down, and her eyes appeared dejected. She was a sad soul without a clue what crime she had been accused of. I felt terrible, softened my tone, and she stopped running. Then she allowed me to pat her head and clean her foot.

Usually poo foot only occurs if “someone” has been remiss in cleaning up the backyard for a few days. As I fit the description of “someone”, I felt sad that my lack of maintenance created a situation where Lizzie was sad.

Speaking of poo foot…

***

I have significantly reduced my time on social media this year. It has been an intentional decision because I’m just tired of unkindness, lack of empathy, inauthenticity, and now higher level inauthenticity with AI.

Here’s a tongue and cheek example of a social media feed post combining my own situation with a variety of recent posts and comments…

Hey guys. Be kind to your doggies. Mine came in with a foot covered in poop, and I chased her around until I realized she was sad. I came to my senses and stopped running so she stopped running. Anyway, have poo on the carpet and a big cleanup job, but we’re friends again.

Comments:

Why didn’t you clean up your yard? If your yard is clean, then you won’t have a mess. It’s really you that is to blame. And when you do clean your yard, is it left to right or right to left…it makes a difference.

This reminds me of the time my daughter got chased by a dog once and it bit her. Luckily for her, it did not affect her grade point average and she continues to attain A’s which the teacher considers to be due to superior parenting. #humblebrag

(AI comment): Here are 16 ways to remove poop from a carpet, and here is a sponsored product that 600 people considered helpful.

Here is a pic of my dog <pic>. Her name is Lola. She is too smart to get poo foot.

I am a dog trainer. I could train your dog to avoid poo.

Poo is spelled pooh (this is followed by a 16 line argument about the Latin origins of the word and the correct spelling British versus American including obscure references to Winne The Pooh).

You shouldn’t be allowed to own dogs if you are going to chase them. I’m going to report you.

Dog poo should be outlawed. I have dogs poop on my lawn constantly. Someone needs to talk to council. Sign my petition <link>.

What breed is your dog? Some breeds are more prone to poo foot than others.

I am happy to help with any cleanup you have. Just PM me. I cost $60/10 minutes and am unable to do work which involves bending at the waist.

You are an idiot.

Why are you posting this? It makes me upset. Don’t you know that some people have had trauma associated with poo foot. You are being insensitive. At least mark the post with a trigger warning.

That makes me hungry. Anywhere know where someone can some good Chinese food in this town? Extra points if the sweet and sour sauce is more sweet than sour.

****

On reading a book called Reclaiming Conversation by Sherry Turkle, the author makes a case for too much social media/online time as directly decreasing empathy, as well as reducing the ability to make conversation in real life, the latter of which I resemble being in the “i speak goodly” category.

“But these conversations require time and space, and we say we’re too busy. Distracted at our dinner tables and living rooms, at our business meetings, and on our streets, we find traces of a new “silent spring”—a term Rachel Carson coined when we were ready to see that with technological change had come an assault on our environment. Now, we have arrived at another moment of recognition. This time, technology is implicated in an assault on empathy. We have learned that even a silent phone inhibits conversations that matter.” - Sherry Turckle

Guilty as charged.

The good news…the cure to restore empathy is fast and only slightly painful…have real-life conversations and put the phone muted away from you out of sight.

***

Lizzie and I are friends again due to her love language being any form of food, but she would agree that my empathy needs work. Since social media leaves me feeling like I have poo foot, I will continue to significantly reduce the amount of time I spend on it, and hopefully increase my ability to empathize.

Because at the end of the day, it’s the person/dog in front of me that should matter - their feelings and thoughts, truly seeing them, and dealing with their poo in real time with kindness, not adding to the pile online.

Lizzie approves this message and continues to support me in my healing journey.

Hope you’re having a great January, everyone.

Do you know you can use AI to erase genitalia making a more family friendly photo, especially when your dog poses in a let-it-all-hang-out position. I can see this will be useful in the future.

Empathy is finding echoes of another person in yourself.

- Mohsin Hamid

A Beautiful Thing

Many times, I have had the opportunity to be truly grateful with all the off-line interactions this blog has afforded me and this week reminded me of that in a tangible way. A friend sent me a piece of pottery she crafted complete with the Kanji symbol for grace based on my post about my tattoo…talk about being truly seen. I placed it on the shelf above the fireplace, and I love the way the light reflects off the glazing. My heart feels full. Doesn’t she have mad skills! I do plan to use it when I need some self-care in the form of a ritualized tea ceremony and foot bath.