This is big

I have made a pretty significant revelation about myself recently:

I am a rule follower.

And I don't mean that I simply like to do things by the book. No no. I mean that if I am in a situation where I know I am breaking even the smallest of rules, I experience legitimate anxiety.

The other day, we took the dogs to the one dog park in town. We have been hearing people talk about it and decided to check it out for ourselves. The only thing about the dog park is that your dogs must be "registered" in order to go there. This entails paying $20 to a vet who confirms your dogs are up to date on their shots and then gives them a green tag for their collar.  

Not a terribly outrageous request, in my opinion, however the husband felt differently. Since our dogs are current on all their shots, he didn't find it necessary to pay the money and get the green tags. When I voiced my concerns about going to the park anyway and not abiding by this rule, his response was, "You really think they are going to have some sort of dog park patrol man on duty?" 

No, not really. But what if, on some off chance, there was an undercover patrol man on duty? Or what if another patron of the dog park noticed our dogs didn't have green tags and reported us? Then we would be reprimanded and embarrassed and possibly even fined! 

Commence the anxiety!

I began coming up with excuses in my head just in case someone did approach us about our delinquency: 

-We are not from around here, we didn't know the rules.

-We don't speak English.

Ummm...

Well, those were really the only two I thought of. Another thing I learned about myself? I don't brainstorm well under pressure or when I'm having anxiety.  

Anyhoo, moral of the story is I like doing what I am supposed to do. I floss my teeth because my dentist tells me to. I tell the truth pretty much all the time (except when I've been bullied into breaking the rules by my husband. Then I claim I don't speak English). I eat my vegetables because they are good for me. And I don't take dogs to the dog park when they don't have appropriate documentation!

I play it safe. And nobody gets hurt. 

P.S. The photos are solely for viewing pleasure. They have no relevance to the story.