Can I please just listen to my book?

Let me start off by saying I've been walking three to four dogs on a regular basis for the last 5 years. I cross paths with a lot of people, mostly strangers. I'm a bit of an introvert and awkward on the best of days, but there's always this increased awkwardness when I'm approaching someone I don't know. It gets even worse when I keep passing the same person, which is the case every time I frequent my favorite walking path.

It's located at a local park and loops around a big empty field with trees standing as a barrier between the park and the road. Large oaks line a majority of the paved walkway, but there are also pines, and one young magnolia tree that has the sweetest fragrance when its blossoms are in full bloom. Benches are placed sporadically around the main path, and one in particular has a plaque dedicated to a husband and wife who passed away close to the same time. I didn't know them, but I like to think they enjoyed the park as much as I do being that there's a bench with their names on it.

In the spring varieties of birds visit the park. I've seen the typical robins, blue jays, cardinals, and hawks, but there's a small family of barred owls that live in the vicinity. Once I saw a buzzard feasting on carrion before it took flight, it’s massive wing-span casting shadows across the path. On a multitude of occasions I've seen one lone crane. My favorite, however, is the eastern bluebird, the males in particular. If you're unfamiliar with the species, you should look it up. The male’s are this vibrant purplish blue with a peachy orange chest. The females are closer to a powder blue and their chests are more of a creamsicle coloring. I’m not really an outdoorsy person, but I love animals and time to myself and dog walking gives me the break I sometimes need along with a little exercise and an excuse to listen to books. The money isn’t terrible either and it doesn’t hurt that the park is beautiful. If only I could avoid the people.

The first time I pass someone there's always this moment that I have to decide if I'm even going to make eye contact and truthfully I almost always do because I heard somewhere that if someone is thinking about harming you in any way, that if you look them in the eyes and speak to them they are less likely to do so because you have a better chance of identifying them by facial recognition as well as voice when they're prompted to reply to your hello. I don't know where I heard that or if it's even true, but it stuck with me and sounded legit and since I'm a 5'4" woman with no kind of defensive training, I try to do everything I can to remain safe when I'm alone in public. My superpower is I make awkward eye contact and say hello to strangers. Also I carry a can of pepper spray with me just in case that previous method ends up not being foolproof.

No matter what, I have to take a moment to pause the audio-book I've been listening to. In my experience, most people just ignore that I have earbuds in anyways. I don't know if they don't see the cords dangling from my ears, or if they just don't care. Either way, I have to pause my book. I'm currently listening to Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs, which I highly recommend if you're into supernatural, but I digress.

Most of the time I say hello and smile without showing any teeth. I don't know why I've chosen this particular smile as the one that I give to total strangers, but it's not my best. You'll just have to trust me. I've seen it in the mirror and it's not very flattering. Regardless, the majority of people seem to be fine with my chosen smile and have no qualms with silently walking past one another and pretending the other doesn't exist for the rest of the time we share the park. I'm all for this person. You are my people. You enjoy your walk through nature in solitude, and I'll enjoy mine with my furry friend while I continue listening to the rest of my book.

Then there's the person that a simple hello isn't going to work and they usually follow it up with a comment about how pretty my dog is to which I typically reply thanks, and don't mention that the dog isn't mine because that just opens up a doorway to continue the conversation. The next time around they usually ask me something else about my dog, and that's when I tell them the dog isn’t actually mine. This keeps happening each additional time around and I won't get into the details of the rest of the conversation, but I just don't have time to stand still and talk about nothing when I'm supposed to be walking a dog.

I'm not trying to be rude. This is my job. Someone pays me to walk their dog for an hour, so I have to actually walk them. On top of that, two of the dogs that I walk are called German shorthaired pointers. Just in case you don't know anything about this particular breed, they're at the highest level of energy and need a lot of activity. They are not content with just standing there while I make small talk with this total stranger. They're prey driven, so while I continue to engage with the passerby about the dog that isn't actually mine, said dog is doing their best to dislocate my shoulder by yanking me to and fro as their attention bounces around to the many squirrels that have ventured out for the surplus of acorns blanketing the ground.

Also, did I mention that sometimes it's cold, you know because winter doesn't care if I'm a dog walker and the longer I stand still, the colder I get?

Eventually I just throw out statements like, "Well have a great day!" Then I continue down the path and hope I didn't come off as rude.

So if you’re an introvert like me that’s looking for a part-time job and happens to love dogs and needs to exercise more, dog walking is probably for you. Sure you’ll have to make awkward conversation sometimes with people you don’t know, but mostly you get a little time to yourself. If you’re anything like me and enjoy music, audiobooks, or podcasts then it doesn’t feel like work at all, like maybe you should be paying them for this wonderful hour you get to enjoy to yourself.