Kick the Dog

It has been a while since I have seen a grown man kick a dog. But Italy is full of surprises. Now imagine, one American walking down a back street in Rome. As an architecture student, his head is in the clouds as he surveys the buildings around him. Approaching towards him is a man with a dog on a chord, not a leash, but a chord. The dog oblivious to its surroundings is mindlessly being guided by the tugs and pulls of the chord, but as the chord is quite long there is considerable distance between the owner and the canine. As these two ships begin to approach, I suspect that a peaceful passing in the night will occur. How often do you see a person and an animal accidentally collide? Nonetheless, this is going to be close. As the two approach closer to a point of no return, my focus intensifies and excitement boils with anticipation to a feverish pitch. Then it happens. The student oblivious of the dog, the dog of the student. The student leads with his right leg and makes solid, very solid contact with the dog. The dog is small, so his meager body goes for a bit of a spin. Now as I learned in science class, for every action there is an equal reaction. Cue, dog yelp, immediately followed by the most terrifying combination of growls, snarls, and teeth wielding you have ever imagined. I can relate it to the wolf dogs of the movie Willow, those things still scare me. Anyway, by the time the student's brain has realized that is has kicked something, that it is a dog, and that it is pissed, the only reaction that ensues is a startled yell of, "Jesus Christ!," followed by a one-legged hop dance where the little ankle biter is shaken loose. The owner gives a half assed tug on the chord, mumbles some inarticulate Italian and all is done. By far the most amusing thing I have seen in the past 237 days.