HABITS

OK, I am a person of habits. And, honestly, we all have one or more habits that we learned the hard way in our lives.

As for myself, I have lived long enough to have already made a lot (hopefully ALL) of my major “Common Life Mistakes”.

There are so many simple ones that we learn as we grow older, like;

I’ll not be putting my hand in a fire (It IS going to hurt, fool!),

I will not walk down a dark street, in a strange neighborhood, late at night (this one is a movie thing, I guess I have watched too many of them that have flagged this as being inherently dangerous.).

I cannot and will not try to outrun a dog (I learned this one in my youth, I even have a few scars on the back of my calves from the years when I was a paperboy.).

In fact, here’s another one; I probably cannot outrun another person (at my age that is …. unless the other person is in worse shape than I am).

These stick out as being pretty common bad habits that we all pick up on and learn from, regardless of our IQ or even our level of personal stubbornness.

There are many other life lessons I have earned but I am on my first cup of coffee, so you’ll have to do with these examples.

The reason I mention life lessons is that these little lessons drive me, and probably the rest of the world, to develop certain habits, like;

For instance, take my mention of personal attacks by Dogs.

I will stand and attack any dog that attacks me,

I never turn my back on one.

Oh, I know, they are defensive animals and they are only doing what is natural to them.

But, you see, whether they are being “true to their nature” or whatever reason the bleeding hearts may spout about being bit by a dog, I learned that my blood still flows from a bite and my body builds scars from the pain and damage inflicted by a dog bite.

So, I follow the old adage “The best Defense is a good Offense”. Dogs actually can sense and understand this fact and you can see the understanding in their eyes when they realize that you are not a victim but an opponent.

Anyway, I am still on my first cup of Coffee, and this thought came to me as I watched a neighbor drive by on his golf cart with his dog on board. The darned dog, sitting on the cart seat was taller than the man driving the cart.

And the thought hit me as I watched them drive by; “I would hate to meet that one on a dark street”.

You see, this is a habit I have; this Dog thing.

I learned it early in my life and I think it is a good habit that I distrust “other people’s Dogs”.

They are their dogs, and I am an outsider.

They are not in danger of attack, I am.

So, control your dogs around me. I will pet a friendly one and I will respond just like the dog does when I sense danger.

It’s just an old habit of mine!

Nuff Said,

by Don Bobbitt, October, 2015

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