An uncomfortably hot day - normal summer temperatures, but early enough in the summer that I'm not used to them yet - but a quick and easy vote. I actually got my voter card in the mail (a first for an Ontario election, even though I've already voted six times provincially (including 2 by-elections) over the course of 15 years, and three of those times were at this address. There was no line, the polling station people were friendly and cheerful, and everything went as smoothly as humanly possible.
Except that dogs are avoiding me today.
As I've blogged about in previous elections, good election outcomes correlate with me petting a doggie on my way to vote. So I took the most roundabout route justifiable to my polling station, with the goal of petting a doggie along the way.
Unfortunately, the dogs just weren't buying it!
I greeted every opportune dog with "Hi puppy!" and a face full of love and enthusiasm, which usually gets them to try to jump up on me. But none of them seemed interested. I commented "Oh, what a cute/gorgeous dog!" to promising-looking dog owners, but got a lower response rate than usual, and, even when the human responded, the dog was uninterested and didn't engage with me at all.
I don't get why dogs aren't interested in me today! Do I smell? Do I not smell? Can they tell I have an ulterior motive?
Ultimately, I gave three dogs a single tap on the back (while admiring them in a socially-appropriate manner, with their humans encouraging the interaction), but they didn't consent to more. I hope that's enough to count as petting a dog for election outcome purposes.
2 comments:
Perhaps the first sentence of this post explains the dogs' lack of interest. Most dogs really dislike hot weather, and the high humidity makes it worse.
I'm glad that single tap worked, though. Today we are a Hudak-free Ontario.
I hope it was the weather! I was worried that I was just being too creepy, what with trolling around the neighbourhood attempting to convince or coerce strangers into physical contact and expressions of affection all with an ulterior motive in mind. But given the outcomes of dogless elections, I couldn't risk not being proactive about it.
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