think

so we have this neighbor
whose dogs have spent
a pretty good deal of their lives
outside their owner's property.
the dogs were spending their days for yearS
not just in public spaces
but in OUR private property.


i've been calling out the mom about it for yearS.
nicely, jokingly, sarcastically, angrily.
it persisted.


the family has been putting forward these excuses:

1.  the daughter/owner is out of the house

2.  there are children in the house who leave the gate open

3.  they cannot keep an eye on the dog,
with the mom adding her usual she has to earn money
("hindi namin matututukan 'yan, kailangan kong kumita ng pera")

these are long-term conditions, right?


when will the owner not be out of the house?
she used to not be around because she was still studying.
now she's not around because she's already working.
so when will this condition disappear?
when she gets married?  when she retires?


when will there be no children there?
there used to be just 3 children in that household.
and then there were 4.
now there's 5.
there's a 6th one soon to be born.

the youngest right now is maybe 2 years old.

when will these children grow up?


when will the mom find time for the dog?
she's a moneylender.
she has to be on her toes.
daytime her clients come to her.
nighttime she goes to them.


these people are able to recognize their circumstances
but their thought processes stop at the point
where all they could come up with
is that i should understand why the dogs are out.

why can't their thoughts cross over
to the point where they realize
that they are not capable of owning a dog?


they're so slow.
they're so irresponsible,
they're so shameless.
change!