Shit happens.

This is a truth universally acknowledged by dog owners all around the world and all through time. 

And when shit happens, it is almost always the responsibility of the owner of the dog from which the shit happened to bend down, pinch one’s nose, and scoop that poop into a bag and off the sidewalk.

In 2024 the most common method to accomplish this task is by unspooling a small biodegradable plastic bag from a roll that one must always carry in one’s pocket when walking the aforementioned canine.  The bag is usually fiddly and awkward, especially when the recently relieved pooch is excited to move along and continue the walk, but with practice finding the opening on the lateral end of said bag can be swiftly achieved. One plunges one’s hand into the bag’s interior, slightly inflating it and with another practiced motion creates an improvised fingerless glove from the hair-thin plastic. The warm deposit, laying there in the grass or snow can be clawed from the ground, inoffensively swallowed by the bag as the slightly-embarassed owner inverts the bag in its entirety and turns the outside of the bag holding the fresh shit into the sealed inside of the bag containing the same, sometimes holding up for a casual inspection. A pinch or a twist of the open end is enough to complete the task, but many people choose to tie a small single knot to contain the excrement from the rest of the universe.

If all this sounds mundane and simple, imagine one’s horror to discover even as one is standing there watching the reality of shit happen, that one has inadvertantly left that little roll of bags at home sitting on the table.

And then imagine the immense relief to see me, walking along with my dog whom you recognize from previous friendly encounters in the park, and whom is happy and eager to bum you a fresh bag from my roll.

In such ways enduring pet friendships are certainly forged.