mid-monday adventures.

as i was walking shamus before work this afternoon, i approached a man walking his very small dog. he was a small man, probably my height, maybe in his 40s. and here's our story:

...i walk up, shamus is jumping and visibly excited.
little man: (with what i find to be a high pitched sweet little voice) "hi, look at your dog! is he friendly?"
me: "yeah, he's fine, he's just really hyper!"
man: "oh my, he is so cute. what is your name?"
me: "molly"
man: "i'm sonny. this is new orleans." (pointing to his sort of strange looking tiny tiny dog that i can't quite place the breed)
sonny: (to me) "you are beautiful! what is your sign in the zodiac?"
me: "uhh, capricorn."
sonny: "oh my gosh, that is a WONDERFUL sign!!"
me: (trying to end this zodiac talk) "what kind of breed is new orleans?"
sonny: "he's a chihuahua"
me: "oh yeah!" (feeling really stupid, because everyone knows what a chihuahua looks like but this one is just really bushy and i thought he might be a mix or something)
sonny: "so you must have a birthday coming up in january!"
me: (dammit. he's back on the zodiac stuff) "yeah i guess it's coming up, but it's on christmas day"
sonny: "oh my! the 24th?"
me: "the 25th"
sonny: "is your puppy a collie?"
me: "no he's an australian shepherd."
sonny: "oh wow, they are so cute when they are puppies." "what is his name?"
me: "shamus."
sonny: "oh my gosh, i have never heard of that name before. how unique!"
me: "yeah, it's an irish name"
sonny: "well they are so cute when they are puppies"

...at this point shamus is barking at new orleans and i'm glad i have an out. sonny does not want to stop talking to me.  i start to lead my psycho puppy away.

sonny: "well it was so nice to meet you both!"
me: "yeah, you too"

at the end of the street when sonny and new orleans are out of sight, i think to myself:
"that was the funniest, weirdest thing that's happened to me in a really long time"
"but why did sonny keep emphasizing that australian shepherds are so cute when they are puppies? while i truly do NOT want to run into sonny and new orleans again and have another one of the strangest, longest conversations of my life, i do want to prove to sonny that they are cute as adults too."
"i guess these are the kinds of people you meet while walking your dog at 11:15 am on a monday....most people should be at work"
"i think i want to quit this law stuff and be a professional dog walker"
"no wonder we had 3 trick or treaters last night, sonny lives in this neighborhood!!"

the end.