No dogs allowed! Nu uh there's a new law

[angelkirie]

A miniature beagle???? I've never heard of those! I'm sure there's inbreeding at it's finest.....

But I'd still like to see one!

[tollbaby]

A miniature beagle???? I've never heard of those! I'm sure there's inbreeding at it's finest.....

But I'd still like to see one!

I aims to please. It's adorable!

[ArenaBoy]

I don't mind dogs as long as they're trained and well behaved. I can't bring my greyhound into a store because he's the size of a female wolf. As for the cats in the bookstores, I love that also. There was a printing store that had a cat named Prince Gutenberg, funny cat. There is also a place in Detroit near Indian Village that sells pottery and sculptures that has a resident cat. This cat has broken some pottery (Expensive stuff) but the business loves him and actually has a t-shirt dedicated to him.

[BusBus]

I aims to please. It's adorable!

AWWWWWWWWWW! So cute! Oh great, now my big kitty is jealous.....

I am all up for animals being banned from businesses and office areas. I absolutely adore cats, but there is a time and place for them. I know people with severe allergies to cats and dogs. I know people who are scared of cats and/or dogs. Plus, unless you're willing to slap a diaper on Fluffy, you cannot guarantee that the animal will not leave a mess behind.

We had to ask a woman once to keep her parrot out of our office. She was a bit upset but eventually complied.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My cousin found our cats on his boat. If he wasn't so allergic he probably would have kept them all (there were 4 kittens, we got 2). But his wife has a cat and he deals with her. I have another cousin who is so allergic that when I'm going to see her I make sure to wear a clean shirt and not pick up the cats before I leave my house.

[DisgruntledBadger]

Then there was the SC who came into the pizza shop in which I used to wait tables.

Now, this guy was a real doozy. He worked construction. In the summertime. During a heat wave. And apparently did not believe in showering or wearing deodorant.

He was quite fond of bringing his herd of rude, ill-behaved, screeching sproglings into the restaurant with him so that they could climb all over the dining room, write on the walls, try to sneak into the kitchen, smack the waitresses' butts, and so on and so forth. As you can no doubt imagine, he was not my favorite person.

On the hottest afternoon we had that summer, Stinky Customer Man and his brood of demon *children come boiling into the store. One of them is dragging an (obviously terrified) Snglish Spaniel pup around by the leash. Now, Springer Spaniels can be pretty sizeable dogs...I've met a few that have topped out at higher than 40 lbs. This one was probably only six months old or so, judging from paw/ear size, so she wasn't ginormously huge. Still, it's a restaurant; no dogs allowed unless they're service animals. I politely draw this law to Stinky Customer Man's attention.

SCM: "Oh. Well, she's not hurting anything." This is while dog is trying to run into the kitchen to get away from these awful kids.

Me: "Sir, it's state law. If a police officer just happens to walk in, we'll be closed down." (Our pizza shop was a popular lunch spot among the local police force. Nice people. ^.^)

SCM: "Well, pretend that my kids are blind and need the dog to help them see."

Me: "...Sir. Please take the dog outside. I cannot allow you to have the dog in the restaurant."

SCM: "It's hot out there! She'll get sick!"

Me: "Sir, I will be more than happy to personally see to it that the dog recieves a pan of water and some bread to nibble on while you and your family eat. Since I'm about to go on break, I will even stay outside and keep the dog company. You just can't have her in the restaurant, because it's against the law." (What can I say? I'm a sucker for animals. I like them better than most people.)

SCM: (with a VERY sour look on his face and one of those nasty tooth-sucking sounds that ought to be abolished) "...Fine. Whatever. But if she gets sick, I'm suing you."

So, poor dog goes back outside and they sit down to eat. Since I'm about to go on my aforementioned break, I toss some ice chips into a takeout pasta container, fill it with water, and tote a napkinful of breadsticks out with me to keep Dog company. Dog is quite pleased by the water. Dog is ecstatic to see the breadsticks. Dog starts to whimper when I have to go back in. I would have taken Dog home with me, if I could've gotten away with it.

While I was outside, another customer had come in to pick up a takeout pizza. They'd just gotten a hermit crab from the pet store down the way. Hermit crab is in a secured container and the kid carrying it remains standing beside the entryway. Nothing obnoxious, just waiting very patiently for the parental unit to pick up the pizza.

Well, of course Stinky Customer Man sees this and raises almighty hell.
"Why can they have their pet in here, but I can't? Huh? Huh? Huh?"

At that point, the head cook got fed up and told the guy that the kid with the hermit crab was not only staying well away from food prep areas, but that there wasn't any way the crab could've gotten out of the container, and that he could either shut up, sit down, and finish his food, or he could leave. I nearly cheered.

Admittedly, we probably should've asked the kid with the hermit crab to stand outside on general principle...but Stinky Customer Man was being such a doody-head about the whole thing!