Fatherly Behavior...

On a recent walk on the trails with my dogs I managed to get into a yelling match with another guy. His dog was off leash, my dog was off leash. There was some huffing and puffing, and things went quickly went downhill from there. At some point he threatened to kick my dog's tail and I dared him to try. There was some really grown up behavior on display.

Runners gawked as we at shouted at each other, meanwhile our dogs played in the creek.  After a few less than polite words, we headed in separate directions, you know, like grown ups.

A few years ago I wouldn’t have given the encounter a second thought.  But these days I think differently, most of my thoughts are geared towards my son. It won’t be long before he’s joining me on these walks and what kind of example would I be setting for him?   

The incident stayed with me, and the more I thought about it, the more ashamed I became.  As the days passed I hoped to see the man again so I could apologize for being such a jerk.

Well the other day I saw the guy, and our exchange went something like this:

Him: Hey man, I’m glad I saw you.  Look, sorry about the other day..

Me: Hey me too, I wanted to apologize.

Him, laughing: I was just so worked up about the dogs.

Me, laughing: Yeah, my dog can be pretty wild.

Him: Alright man, take care.

Me: Yeah, see ya.

And that was the end of it.  Both of us came away from our quick conversation feeling better about our misunderstanding as cooler heads prevailed…eventually. I'd much rather my son see his dad in that conversation rather than our first...I'll get there.

Happy Guy