Clueless Parents

by Larry Chamberlin   Jun 2, 2014


Young couple with a terrier:
"Go make friends!"
holding their camcorder;
but he does not venture
from their side,
so they leave the dog park.

Better luck with a child?

4


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Latest Comments

  • 10 years ago

    by Dancing Rivers

    (laughing so much!!!) What a wonderfully comical poem, also, advice to the owners of the terrier, please don't ever have children!!! :-P

  • 10 years ago

    by rachael

    Larry, I didn't even know you were in town! How long were you watching us? Next time, don't be so shy! For the record, if you happen to see us and our Jack Russell, Zach, at the park you should come say "Hi!"

    P.s. - He was just grumpy because he hadn't had his 16th nap yet, he's usually much more outgoing and social.

    P.P.s - I liked this piece. ;-)

  • 10 years ago

    by -Choke-On-MY-Halo-

    I personally launched because while a dog is a pain a child or children are a much worse responsibility than a mere dog while I understand that this in the case of the owners footsteps is a small step towards children it's quite interesting the foot in the water technique

  • 10 years ago

    by Nevi

    I could envision this all too well. Reminds me of my dog, Zoey. She gets all excited when we take her around other dogs, but as soon as we go to the dog park, all she wants to do is follow me around, so I have to run around and try to encourage her to play with other dogs.

    But enough about that: The last line of this poem is definitely the line that speaks for the rest of the poem. A lot of couples get a dog as "practice" for a kid. So if they expect to just be able to release their dog and it handle business itself, how will they possibly be able to handle a child when they first send him/her off to school for the first time?

    On a side note, when people ask me if I have kids, I like to respond "I have a dog", because despite her being just a pet, my girlfriend and I do treat her just like a baby.

  • 10 years ago

    by Everlasting

    Lol, Mr. Larry

    I went to Meyer on Saturday, and I finally saw the dog park. I was pretty surprised specially when I saw the pictures that you posted on fb as I had no clue about its existence.

    My take on this poem is that the line " better luck with a child?" to me can be taken into two directions. I guess if I heard the tone in which it is said It would be easier to know what you meant with it.

    first interpretation, is that you are asking a question... sort like saying, wouldn't it be easier if you had a child?

    Second interpretation.. imagine what would happened if you had a child?

    • 10 years ago

      by Larry Chamberlin

      Glad you saw the dog parks (there are two: over & under 25 lbs).
      What I saw in this couple was total self-immersion. They fully expected their poor dog to make friends Because They Told Him To.
      I can't imagine what impossible expectations they'll place on a human baby.

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