No, I don’t want your dog sniffing inside my grocery bag

Episodes like today make me understand that some people actually do vote UDC here.

NH was minding his bizness in H&M today waiting in line when the dog of the couple waiting behind him started nosing around in the grocery bag.

He said nicely (and keep in mind NH looks like a yuppie to boot), “Could you please watch your dog, he’s in my grocery bag.”

What did the dude say? This is the exact effing quote: “What is your problem man, do you want a coup de boule?” As in, because my husband asked him nicely to make sure his dog stayed out of our fruits and veg, the dude automatically asked him if he wanted to fight and made a reference to Zidane. “Coup de boule” is almost exclusively used these days in reference to the unfortunate Zidane incident, thus there was a direct connotation to “angry Arab (sic) male.” So the dude automatically got defensive and raised his voice.

NH goes on nicely, “No, for hygiene reasons I just don’t want your dog on my vegetables and would like some respect for my personal space.”

Then the girlfriend starts in, “What is your problem, it not like it’s a Rottweiler, and….(hold on folks, this is a good one)… we’re not in Kabul here.” Can you believe it?

So then NH raises his voice and says, “One, there is a law in Geneva about how dogs have to be muzzled, and two Kabul has nothing to do with anything. All I want is for your dog to stay out of my grocery bag.”

Dude says some other wanna-fight type stuff, asks if the police need to be called, and NH says, “Ok, let’s call the police then”…the dude, obviously coming to the slow realization of who he was messing with, walks out of the store.

The chick keeps on with some blah blah but NH checks out and moves on. Only regret is that something should have been said to her about her irrelevant racist commentary, but still. No one in the store said anything at the time, but once the dude walked out a couple people came up to NH and told him he was right for standing up for himself and right for feeling that way about the dog.

The whole exchange was a discussion that should have never happened. What was the point of even mentioning headbutts and Kabul? Where in the heck did that come from?

Finally, since unfortunately some people have the incurable illness of racism that time has not healed, the real question for today is this: is it too much to freakin ask for people to watch their dogs? On the tram in Zurich once I had this lady’s Labrador jump on me. I was like, “Can you watch your dog?!” (yes, there I was mean about it) and she was like, “Oh he isn’t mean.” That’s the normal line here. Especially in Geneva with people’s little poodles and such. Their dogs are all over you in the tram and they are like, “Oh but he doesn’t bite”…I don’t care if your dog bites or not, I don’t want your dog on me. I think it is normal to expect respect of my personal space.

Would you let your kid dig in my groceries? Would you let your kid give me a big old hug? I don’t think so. So why does everyone in this country think their dogs can do whatever the heck they want? What the heck is the problem with my husband asking someone NICELY to hold on to their dog? How can someone of the Muslim persuasion ask people to hold on to their freakin dogs without it turning into a discussion about Gaza? What if NH was “white”? Would this conversation have happened?

There are laws in Geneva about dogs in public establishments. Most grocery stores don’t allow dogs in principle, so it can be reasonably assumed that there is a food and hygiene issue there. There are laws in Geneva about dogs being muzzled. All Nice Husband was asking for was this couple to respect not only his rights as a private citizen to a personal space but also the laws of the city in which the episode happened. Instead, they had to talk about headbutts and Kabul and somehow make it his problem. In-efffing-credible. I’m gobsmacked.

Anyway I am proud of NH for opening his mouth.

Tags : look how the swissies are livin, racists, stupid stuff, coup de boule