Not cool
So, we're members at the local dog park, which means that we pay a yearly fee (which you can assume is a fairly hefty non-zero sum) and we can take Luke to the park whenever we want. There are lots of free dog parks in Gainesville, but given the horror stories that we've heard about the types of dogs that frequent those parks (unneutered, aggressive males), we choose instead to stay away from those places. And by and large, I'm thrilled with our dog park and I'm happy to pay the yearly fee. BUT. Lately, the park has fallen into disrepair. A big, dead tree came crashing down a few weeks ago, and the huge branches that came with it are still where they landed. While you can see them in the daylight, as dusk starts to fall they get harder to see and it's a bit of a hazard (for both humans and dogs). And then there's the dry dog area. It's a large section of the park that's fenced off from the rest. It's where you can take your dog if you don't want him going into the pond. And, since Luke gets a staph infection when he goes into the ponds, followed by a secondary allergic reaction, we tend to frequent the dry dog area. Except that it hasn't been mowed for FOUR WEEKS. Every weekend, I get all excited and think that this, this surely is the weekend when the owners will get their shit together and mow that area. And every weekend I'm disappointed. So today, I called up there and talked to the owner.
Me: "Hi! I was wondering if you guys had mowed the big dry dog area yet?"
Owner: "Well, we haven't mowed it this week... every time we go out to mow, it rains."
Riiiight. Well, let me tell you something, dear readers. It rained yesterday. That was the first time it had rained all week, and it certainly hasn't been raining every day for four weeks straight. I would have offered to mow the dry dog area for them, but the last time we offered to help out around there (John wanted to fix a broken fence that had remained broken for quite a while), we got stonewalled. So fine. They won't take care of the place and they won't accept help. And we won't go elsewhere because, again, unneutered aggressive dogs. They've basically got us over a barrel. And I have a feeling they know it.