Neighborhood meetings, characters and dogs in the park

Last night was our monthly neighborhood association meeting. As is usual it was a rather mixed bag. We heard from our city liaison about a couple of trainings coming up for citizens. Our neighborhood police officer reported on cuts in the department and how some duties are now being covered by volunteers. We heard an update on the start of construction of a new development and we had a couple of presentation, one on elder services, and the other on airport noise.

I know, it’s not exactly stuff to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it was all useful information.

Our neighborhood is lucky in that we usually have pretty good attendance, about 20-30 people on average. Most neighborhoods get a dozen on a good night. Our groups has a lot or regulars, and then there are always a few odds ones thrown in.

Where our meetings get interesting, at least if you’re any kind of student of human behavior, is when the more odd, and off the beaten track individuals start to chime in. We have the guy that sits in the back, and has lived here all his life. He will decided that a particular point has interest for him. This point is ALWAYS some very small piece of the topic being discussed, it is ALWAYS something that we have very little or no control over, and he ALWAYS wants to discuss it in detail and have someone fix it. Never fails!

We also have “The Grandmas” 3 older ladies (there used to be 4 but passed a couple of years ago) who always come together, and sit together in the front row. They almost never bring any issues, or have opinions on issues, but when they do you had better listen. They attend every function in the neighborhood, and can be relied on to volunteer for committees.

We also have the guy who has to be the “character”, the one with a story for every occasion, has experienced almost everything. In our case this person has lived a pretty incredible life and is totally devoted to our neighborhood. He also happens to be our president and is the one who conducts our meetings. Being a “character” and the president can lead to some really long meetings with a lot of stories, most of which we have heard before. I should also mention that tact is not his strongest suit.

So last night we endured a mind numbing long presentation from the elders services group, we were their first neighborhood presentation. We also had some fireworks between the president and the sergeant-at-arms over the railroad and their use of horns, resulting in raised voices and the possible resignation of the sergeant-at-arm, who also something of a “character.”

After all that we got down to new business and community concerns. The big issues related to dogs in the parks. (We have two neighborhood parks.) To be specific what dogs leave behind in the park that their masters are not picking up. We have installed doggie bag dispensers recently to address this issue, but apparently they are not being used.

The other issue was dogs off leash. And, here is were the meeting became truly interesting. One of the neighbors (A) said that her neighbor (B) routinely brings her dog to the park off-leash. Neighbor (A) gently reminded neighbor (B) that all dogs need to be on a leash. Neighbor (B) responded that her dog did not have to be on a leash because her doctor has written a note for the dog. ---- I’m telling you, you can’t make this stuff up!!----- I turned and put the questions to our neighborhood officer who hadn’t heard the story because he was talking to another neighbor. I said, “Drue, is it true that a person is exempt from the leash law if they have a doctor’s note?” He looked at me as if to say, is this a trick question. Then he looked around like maybe he was being punked or on Candid Camera. I’m sure it’s one of the stranger questions he’s gotten. For the record, the answer is NO.