PANERA, WANAMAKER — Daisy’s taking a nap after her nice romp at Bark Park. She behaved nicely. She played/wrestled with the big doggies…and she let some little kids pet her.
That’s a blessing – given her history with kids. According to the shelter, she doesn’t do well with kids under 8 because her previous family kept her caged…with little kids tormenting her on the outside. And, she will go into her crate for naps, food and bed-time, she still has a problem with kids. We watched an episode of Sex and the City – the one when Samantha ended up using a vibrator to calm a baby down…before that, the baby cried a lot and Daisy started barking at the screen. Then she jumped down from the couch and barked more at the speakers. Yesterday, when I took her out for a walk, grade school kids playing outside upset her. I tried to calm Daisy down with food and the kids kept teasing her…”You can’t catch us ’cause you’re on a leash.” I glared at the kids and we kept walking. That totally didn’t help with Daisy getting over her hang-up on kids.
It’s a different story at Bark Park. Daisy’s mellow with the toddlers – she jumps on them and makes them giggle. One girl was terrified of the big dogs…but she wanted to pet Daisy. So I gave the kid a ball and Daisy played fetch with her. Hopefully Daisy will mellow out by the time we have kids. Hopefully our kids won’t be as bratty as the ones at our complex.
Mark said we got our tax returns back. I’m amazed how quickly that happened since we e-filed a few weeks ago. We filed jointly and got rewarded for being married…and for me being out of work for most of 2005. It also hit home the absolute unfairness of the same sex marriage debate. Same sex couples who have been married longer than us – get nothing back on their taxes. Why? To protect the institution of marriage? Once again, American history and politics repeats itself – discriminating against same sex couples in the same way interracial couples were prohibited from marrying…and back then – the powers that be thought they were protecting the institution of marriage and racial bloodlines. During my Berkeley days, I’ve covered interracial marriage for some papers. Folks back in the day – politicans, professors and more…saw interracial marriage as equal to mating with an animal – that it wasn’t “right” under the eyes of God.
The Kansas City Star had an interesting article about some lawmakers who believe kids who have not graduated from high school – have more of a right to marriage than gay and lesbian adults.
“Before the Senate approved the bill, Sen. Kay O’Connor, an Olathe Republican, pushed through an amendment to allow those under 16 to marry if a judge agrees it’s in their best interest. O’Connor, a supporter of last year’s ban on gay marriage, said she would rather not set any minimum.
“I believe parents should make that decision, not government,� she said, adding that without the amendment, “Mary and Joseph would not have been able to get married in the state of Kansas, because Mary was 14.�