So how 'chuffed', simply amazed and astonished and astounded I was, when, a couple of Saturdays ago, incidentally during a sojourn of one of those aforementioned relatives, to - quite literally - 'stumble upon' someone doing the right thing by the country she had now chosen, presumably, to call her new home. As 'author' of an unpaid opinion piece 15 or so years earlier, entitled 'Not Just in the Backblocks', in which I - rather painstakingly - chronicled, both visually and prosewise, the then state of doggydoodom in my beloved Dunedin, call me somewhat biased if you will, but nevertheless... . This youngish Asian gal, no doubt quite unused to a smile much less a kind word from her new, largely European - in these often frigid, southern climes - fellow residents, appeared 'out of the ether' as I was rounding a final bend in the bush of one of Dunedin's innumerable walking tracks, patiently bending down beside a river and scooping up the defecated dregs of her dog's digestive system; quite impervious to my presence until I chanced upon her.
So she was doing what she did "with fear (of) and favour toward none" - as well befits a visitor to this blogsite. And indeed thus undoubtedly proving herself a better citizen and/or resident than the - great - majority (at least until recent times) of her fellow Dunedinites. And a few minutes, at most, later, as I passed out of the reserve, followed a short distance back, by herself and her doggy, I noticed, and pointed out in her hearing, a large sign - the first of such I'd ever encountered - informing all such pet owners of the $300 fine they would be liable for if they failed in their pooper-scooper duties. Which she claimed, in an ever-so-genuine fashion, to never have even noticed, just as she'd reacted similarly to my surprise at her act of disinterested benevolence a few minutes earlier. Well done milady!
No comments:
Post a Comment