Absolutely mortified

[Seshat]

We work hard to make our budget allow us to keep the pets cared for and healthy. And yes, sometimes the only thing that lets me get through the day is Vi's eagerness to see me and be with me.

Thank you for donating the pet food.

[prjkt]

We work hard to make our budget allow us to keep the pets cared for and healthy. And yes, sometimes the only thing that lets me get through the day is Vi's eagerness to see me and be with me.

Thank you for donating the pet food.

In know the feeling. There's no better feeling than seeing a happy dog bound up to you, even if you've only been gone a few minutes, or sitting on the couch/lying in bed with a purring cat beside you when you've had a tough time....

[dawnfire]

In know the feeling. There's no better feeling than seeing a happy dog bound up to you, even if you've only been gone a few minutes, or sitting on the couch/lying in bed with a purring cat beside you when you've had a tough time....

people could take a few lesson from pets on not being judgmental.

[Aragarthiel]

people could take a few lesson from pets on not being judgmental.

Some are racist though. My in-laws have two like that, a Japanese Akita and a pit bull/boxer mix. Nobody in the house is racist, though they got the Akita fully grown so she may have gotten that from her previous owners. The mix is the sweetest dog, they've had her since she was a puppy (shes a rhinoceros now though), but she growls at anyone who isn't white.

Cats tend to not judge though, as long as they get food and noggin bonks.

[notalwaysright]

Some are racist though. My in-laws have two like that, a Japanese Akita and a pit bull/boxer mix. Nobody in the house is racist, though they got the Akita fully grown so she may have gotten that from her previous owners. The mix is the sweetest dog, they've had her since she was a puppy (shes a rhinoceros now though), but she growls at anyone who isn't white.

My parents had a racist dog, I don't normally mention it. People usually tell me I imagined it, or think that my parents trained her that way. We got her full grown. She was a Catahoula Leopard dog, which just happens to be the state dog of Louisiana. Although as far as I know she was never anywhere near there. Realistically, though, it's not like the dog had feelings of hate, or anything. Just for whatever reason, she saw dark skin and went nuts.

[mathnerd]

My mastiff had issues with darker colored people wearing dark clothing at night. I think the disconnect between being able to smell them but not being able to see them as well as lighter colored people or people in lighter colored clothing upset him.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I know a dog that was prejudice against men who drove bread trucks. One kicked him when he was a puppy. Friendliest happiest dog ever, and we had to chain all 12 pounds of him up when the bread truck came or he would've done something he needed put down for. He was kicked hard enough to be in vets for almost a month healing from the damage.

[raudf]

I had a dog who could have been considered racist, until you realized she hated the color black. Black dogs, black cows, black birds, black squirrels, black.. it didn't matter. If it was solid black, she hated it with a passion. The reason? When she was a pup, two fully grown black labs put her under a car. They were in full play mode, but she didn't get that.

And she hated black boots more than anything. Stupid Uncle deserved to have his boot forcibly removed by her.

[greek_jester]

Regardless of what animal "experts" say, animals do remember things from a long time ago, particularly survival points. Bread guy puts you in hospital? You never let the b@stard try it again.

Our late German Shepherd would go nuts over anyone going upstairs with a carrier bag (a thief broke into his previous owner's house and, you guessed it, went upstairs with a carrier bag). We won't go into his reaction to uniforms after spending the first year and a bit of his life being systematically tortured by a cop (the people who rescued him were the ones who were robbed).

Our late black lab would flinch away from anyone one with a long stick, even my mum's walking stick, and mum never raised her hand or voice to Bonnie in the 12 years we had her. Bonnie's previous owner, who we rescued her from when she was 18 months, beat her with a stick.

Animals remember things that will keep them alive and unhurt. Conversely, they also remember those trustworthy enough to give their love and loyalty to. Both are survival instincts that our distant ancestors were smart enough to breed for.

[wolfie]

Sounds like some of these dogs are like the (occasionally appearing) dog on I Dream of Jeannie. When it was a puppy, it had been abused by the guards, so it hated people in uniform (of course, "uniform" in Baghdad 2000 years ago looked nothing like a modern uniform, but who cares about a plot hole you can fly a C-5 through?). Cue the dog turning invisible and attacking anyone in uniform.

[Slave to the Phone]

Wait a minute. People have actually commented like that about your donation to help people/pets in need?!

Upsetting as those comments may be for you, it says more about the other person than it does about you.

I always buy the same brand of pet food to avoid tummy upsets, but I do shop sales, so I'd always have several large bags in my cart. The cashier will often ask how many dogs I have and I used to tell her or him that I didn't have any dogs, but I was donating it to Meals on Wheels. About half the time, I'd hear someone behind me muttering about how poor people shouldn't have pets. Now I tell them that I have one Pomeranian with a very big appetite!

However, and this is a big one...sometimes the person behind me would ask why I expected poor people to eat dog food and I'd explain my reasoning. I could see by the look on their faces that they really hadn't thought about that before, so maybe they started donating as well.

Several years ago, a certain flavor of canned cat food was on sale, so I was filling my cart with cases of it. Someone commented that my cats must really love that stuff and I told him that it was so the shelter cats could have something nice for Christmas. When I was ready to pay for the cat food, he reached over me, handed the cashier his card and said that the cat's Christmas dinner was on him. He left me in tears and my eyes are watering now just thinking about his kindness.

[greek_jester]

Several years ago, a certain flavor of canned cat food was on sale, so I was filling my cart with cases of it. Someone commented that my cats must really love that stuff and I told him that it was so the shelter cats could have something nice for Christmas. When I was ready to pay for the cat food, he reached over me, handed the cashier his card and said that the cat's Christmas dinner was on him. He left me in tears and my eyes are watering now just thinking about his kindness.

Sometimes I get really depressed reading on this site, wondering about the state of humanity. Then I read something like this and I reach for the tissues for the right reasons. What a wonderful guy!

[Evannah]

I was like this when I started cashiering. I didn't understand discretion at all. I'm glad I've changed now. To be honest it didn't take long. Hopefully this will be a hard lesson to the cashier and she'll learn not to do it in future. And really, I don't think what you said was too bad at all. You were upset and embarrassed and a lot of people would have reacted worse.

[mathnerd]

During my conversation with the manager I did actually wind up saying something to the effect of "Nobody's born knowing this stuff. It has to be learned". She actually liked that phrase and said it was going into her training pitch.

The more I think about this, the more I'm upset with the people who were around me, and not the cashier who made what amounts to a minor to moderate mistake.

[Food Lady]

Thinking about the donated pet food and realizing that people who are in need can often be more generous than those who have much. I remember the beginning of 2014 when I was getting scheduled as little as 9 hours a week and my foodstamps had been cut down to almost nothing because I'd made too much money in December. My friend, who was in food stamps herself, bought me groceries so I wouldn't have to go to the food pantry. And it's true that we aren't supposed to buy junk food, but also not supposed to buy expensive "good" food. Who is anyone to tell me what to buy? I have health conditions that make some "healthy" foods unhealthy for me. And if I felt like using up my whole allotment on something small and expensive, so what? I'd have to pay out of pocket for the rest of the month's food besides. How would that be hurting anyone but me?