I have a friend who is a childless, 40-something woman with 3 dogs that she considers ‘her children’. The only time she really irritated me is when I would mention a mile-stone my youngest reached and she invariably answered that one of her dogs could do the same thing.
Women, especially older childless women, have always tended to be a little nutty about pets. I attribute that to the empty womb syndrome, which in our society is particularly exacerbated by the fact that said womb has probably been the site of many abortions.
However, what really freaks me out is when I see a strong, healthy young man walking along the street with a dog (usually a chihuahua or other small breed) strapped to his chest in a baby carrier. I live in a tourist town, and I can’t tell you how often I have seen men carrying dogs in baby carriers on their chests or backs or have seen them pushing dogs in strollers along the street. (And these are not gay men...they’re usually accompanied by wives or girlfriends.) That upsets me much more than seeing ditzy spinsters and their anthropomorphized pets.
“The only time she really irritated me is when I would mention a mile-stone my youngest reached and she invariably answered that one of her dogs could do the same thing.”
I stopped eating lunch with some co-workers because too often a conversation that seemed normal enough on the surface (about a friend or family member) turned out to be either about a dog one had or television characters from the evening before - there were people opposed to company picnics that wouldn’t include pets. These people get their own Darwin Award for removing themselves from the gene pool, almost along the lines of the honorable mention (I believe that is reserved for those who survive).
You must be very good at biting your tongue! You can compare dog to dog story, dog to cat story but NOT child to dog story. I was going to say unless your youngest has mastered drinking out of the toilet or dragging one bum’s across the rug (LOL!) It seems strange that she feels the need to compare? Perhaps just because she sees a similarity in her mind but wow!