MY SOAP BOX

From time to time I will post a new essay on a worthy topic Thanks for visiting my site and I want to know what you think of my writing; drop me a line.

New Orleans Has Gone To the Dogs

By Thomas Emmon Pisano 

Have you noticed a strange odor coming from our streets lately?  It is probably the smell of pet droppings or animal excrement.  That smell is everywhere these days.   

I live on picturesque Esplanade Avenue in the beautiful City of New Orleans.  This avenue is a residential 2-lane thoroughfare with a wide neutral ground populated with old Oak trees.  Here and there, we as residents have planted various ornamentals all along this little strip of park-ish earth, which stretches from the Mississippi River to City Park.  It is a pleasant place for the Jays and the squirrels to forage and for the joggers and the walkers to enjoy as well.

Now, it seems that the people who live and visit us here on Esplanade Avenue have, for the most part, decided that the neutral ground is a dog toilet.  I can assure you that it was never intended to be a place for our animals to defecate; at least I hope it wasn’t.

New Orleans is a cultural Mecca, and people come here from all over the world to view our historic treasures.  So why are residents, guests, and some of our businesses fouling the city streets with animal manure?  It is bad enough that we have become familiar with seeing and smelling the mule and horse piles that dot the French Quarter without having to watch the sidewalks for criminal dog droppings.  Every little patch of grass is fair game to these canine dumpers as they roam around the city on the end of their master's leashes.

The city does have in place laws that state that dog owners must clean up after their pooches.  Here again, how do you enforce a law as hard pressed as public sanitation on the sneaky pet owners?  I have talked with many of the people in my neighborhood who own pets, most of them are very responsible, and some are not.  Many of my neighbors are complaining about the dog debris and they all admit that the problem is a conundrum that most wish not to deal with at all. 

Don’t misunderstand me, many dog walkers are responsible and do police their dogs by carrying the required plastic bags, and using them when it is time to clean up after Fido.  Then again equally as many people do not care to eliminate their dog's mess from the public access way.  I have owned many animals in my life and I have always given them the care and love they deserve which includes keeping them clean and healthy. 

That brings me to another point; leaving this waste behind opens the door for the transmission of diseases that can harm humans and pets alike.  These can be spread by walking in such waste and through the nasty blue green flies that inhabit the air around this place.  This is a public health issue; no one can deny that fact.  Since the pet owners and the general public seem to be at odds when it comes to this part of the social contract the only thing we can do is ask the official and legal part of the city to act on behalf of the people.

We do what is more than required as residents and homeowners to keep our sidewalks in front of our houses clean and safe.  The passing public should have the same pride and respect for New Orleans.  The law forbids people with beer soaked bladders from empting them on the public streets, why not the same enforcement for pet owners? 

The problem seems simple enough to solve but there are lazy people in the world and there is really nothing we can do about it as individuals.  This is really a problem that lies in the heart of the law.  Moreover, until the city decides it has had enough we have to grin and bear it.  I personally do not like to complain to the City Council but sometimes you have to speak up and let them know when something is not right. 

Right now, the city has a great odor of manure; maybe it is the heat of the summer that amplifies the smell.  That smell should not be there at all because it is unsanitary and it is a potential public health risk.  These piles of mule manure are left behind by commercial animal drawn carriages and they have no excuse for leaving these smelly messes as they work around the City of New Orleans, none!  This is shoddy workmanship and it should be regulated with supervision that is more stringent or there should be more city intervention, perhaps increase their licensing tax to include a clean up fee.  Then pay a real sanitation company to clean it up instead of ignoring it.

This seems like a complaint about small, insignificant, and petty things until you step in these complaints and track them home; around here in New Orleans, there are a lot of other people's problems to step in these days.

A Baseball Fan Laughs at the Game

by Thomas emmon Pisano 

This just can’t be happening, I mean are these men playing baseball or are they trying to hijack the owner and the fans? I was struck on my funny bone when I read in my local paper that a famous baseball player was to become a free agent and take his chances some place else. His salary, if you can call it that, would have been fifty-five million for the next three years. Now I figure that if I was going to be a member of a team and they were to pay me that much cash for my talents I would be so grateful that I would be over whelmed with joy. In addition, to make this even more ridiculous this is not an isolated instance; from what I hear this is not uncommon it happens everyday. Is there no loyalty in the game of baseball any more?

I honestly can not tell which player is on which team, I was again baffled when my friend the sports buff told me that another player whom I had watched come up the ranks and use to play for my home team wasn’t here any more. “Where did he go?” I asked in a nonchalant manner. “To a team back east,” he was now their star catcher.  Point is with all this business of being a free agent, the players have no team loyalty, they are loosing the spirit of the game, and the managers are part of this problem.

Back in the early days of baseball, the players stayed with a team through thick and thin, when they won every body won; when they lost they shared the agony of defeat. Now players leave the clubs looking for greener pastures, they are also enticed by their agents to go to better paying venues and further their careers and paychecks. This is the free enterprise system and the American way. I shouldn’t complain, but I am a baseball romantic I suppose, I want it to be like the old days, when the players stayed on the same team for the rest of their lives. I want the times when you went to the park to see a special player ‘do it again’ year after year.

I suppose I’m seeking some kind of Zen attitude in this most egotistical of sports, I want the days of Ruth, Cobb and Robinson and the others who joined a ‘club’ and stayed there out of some regional loyalty. But then again what do I know about the game, I just like watching the game being played by sportsman and honorable players. Other than the fact that my team never wins I am truly a fan of the diamond and hope that it only change for the better.

I know this; when I turn on the television and on a nice summers day see the game. I know that all is right with America; after all, it is our game and our national pastime. The game of baseball soothes my soul and puts me at ease, even at the park; on my feet, standing and cheering.  This is team spirit and loyalty, a microcosmic view of our nation in general. How great is that, you tell me?