Judgy judgerson.

One night last week, David took Bo dog out on his leash for a walk to go pee. (Bo hates the backyard and is spoiled rotten. He'll hold his pee ALL day til David gets home and walks him but that's another story).   So, we're getting ready for bed and David takes Bo out... I'm sitting on the couch finishing up something online when I hear it- fighting dogs. Oh no! I run outside to see Lassie attacking Bo.  I kid you not, this dog looked like Lassie.  We've heard from about a million people that Bo is an "agressive breed" and he's "scary" and we shouldn't be allowed to have him on post. (He's an American Bulldog.  He's loud and completely allowed on post just for the record). 
Anyway, so Bo is on his leash (like he's supposed to be when he's out front) and out of nowhere this dog comes running down the block growling and barking at Bo. David hadn't even left our front yard! Bo loves the tree in our front yard so they never even have to go far!

So this dog is jumping on Bo, growling, biting him, attacking him.  David's holding Bo back by the collar and leash while trying to kick this other dog off and away. 
This lady comes running down, yelling at her dog.  She gets a hold of him, asks if Bo's okay and then takes him home yelling at him all the way home.  She said she just let him off his collar and she was just outside hanging something up (totally against every rule here-no collar, no leash, out front).... So David comes in yelling and just angry that this woman stood there for a second watching instead of coming to get the dog.
I said, "I can kind of relate...." shit hit the floor.  He was so mad and just didn't understand what I meant.  I then explained that had the rolls been reversed, had it been Bo attacking another dog and had I been her, I wouldn't have known what to do either! Bo isn't my dog. Bo doesn't listen to me like he does David and I sure as hell wouldn't have wanted to get in between two big ole dogs.  He judged this woman so much though, he went on and on about how wrong she was and how she should've done this and that and what not.  I agree about not having her dog outside without a leash or COLLAR but I defended her a little bit.  I got frustrated with him for not seeing my/her side of it. All he could argue was that Bo would never do that because he's not aggressive.  (I highly doubt she thought her Golden Retriever would book it down the road to attack an American Bulldog). 
I was so annoyed with him for being such a jerk about it. 

Then it happened.... I was on the other side of the argument. I was the judger!

The very next day I attempted to take Owen with me to the gym. 
Our housing office has an indoor gym with a little room built into it just for kids to play in.
I've been before, he's hated it every single time.
So this day, I sit in there with him for a second.... he discovers toys, I sneak out, he seems fine.  There's cartoons on, he's got toys, there are other kids his age in there... then he starts to cry.  I watch him for a second and it seems he's mad because a kid took a ball from him.  I could be wrong but I've seen that cry before and this kid walked away from him with a ball....
Owen gets over it, seems okay again, I go back to my machine.... I glance up and see this same kid patting Owen on the back and think, "Awe. Well that's sweet!"  --yeah. Not so much.... then this kid knocks Owen down and proceeds to hit him on the head over and over again.  I drop my shit and jump off the treadmill and run in there to save Owen from this older kid....
By the time I've grabbed Owen and walked out to grab my stuff the mom finally makes her way in there. (mind you, this is the kid with the ball earlier and when I first got there, this kid opened the door to talk to his mom and let another baby escape so a different mom had to stop to get her kid rounded back into the room).  Then I have to awkwardly stand there with Owen while she tries to get her kid to tell Owen that he's sorry.... all with the door open and another kid breaks free from the room.  Kid finally says sorry and sits in time out but oh my goodness, I wasn't happy.  Owen wasn't happy.  The other two moms in there weren't happy.

On the way home, I judged her.  I thought, "lady! pack your kid up and go! He just knocked my kid down and smacked him on the head a cajillion times and you're just gonna tell him "nobody's going to want to be your friend...." WHAT THE HECK, LADY?!".   Then I calmed down and realized I was judging her and I felt awful.
The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I actually admire this lady for staying at the gym & trying to continue her workout.   I admire her for not losing her cool or getting frustrated with her kid.

I just left.  I knew Owen wouldn't even go back in that room without a fit and that to me would just disturb others and I didn't want that so I came home and went to put Owen in the stroller to go for a jog only to discover a flat tire.  Now I'm drinking coffee while Owen watched Elmo. 
I went back to the gym after picking up Maddie.  Owen's nap was pushed back a little, I still got in a bit of a workout and everything was fine.

Moral of the story, clear your head and rethink the situation before just angrily judging someone.

(Bo is fine by the way.  He was bleeding a little bit but mostly shaken up)