If There Isn’t There Should Be

    Today I have been schlepping back and forth to Lowes, hauling bags of mulch for the yard. I also did this a number of times last week.

    Going and coming I pass through a three-way-stop intersection where there are always people with their coolers, pets, conveyances, and signs, asking for money. They have signs stating different reasons for their requests. This is the place where there is one man who has no sign, but holds his hands chest high and about twelve inches apart, as though he had a sign.

    The man who caught my attention today was the one with a German Sheppard tied by a rope to his doggy crate. The driver ahead of me rolled down her passenger window and was holding a bill out to the man. As the man advanced toward the car to except the bill, the dog went berserk. He was barking, snapping, growling, lunging, and dragging his crate towards the car. He was not a happy camper, and really wanted to get at the driver offering his master some money.

    I’m not sure what to call what these folks do---begging, panhandling, or soliciting. Let’s go with soliciting. In Soliciting 101 there must be some warning about having a dog in attendance who tries to eat the donor. At least I would think so.