Elevator

We live on the 15th floor of an apartment building. Not ideal with 2 dogs, but we do the best we can. We have a set schedule. Out the door first thing in the morning, just as the sun is rising. I like to walk them before all of the pedestrians are out and about. We go outside again late in the afternoon, which is a little more precarious because lots of people are meandering around. And then again after dinner and right before bed.

I say "precarious" because as I've mentioned before, the Azeris hate dogs. They think dogs are unclean and most people here are frightened of them to boot. Hoping to make a good impression, we try to keep our distance from everyone and I always pick up after the dogs. We rarely enter through the front doors of the apartment building. Instead, I lead the furry kids down the ramp to the parking garage and we walk through the basement to catch the elevator.

Even with all of these precautions, we sometimes end up riding the elevator with other people. Many of the other tenants are expats, so they do not have any problem with our medium-sized terrier mixes. But, all locals come to a screeching halt when the doors open and there I stand with 2 dogs sitting next to me. Some people will flat out refuse to ride with us. Fine by me, because then I don't have to be so concerned about offending anyone.

Recently, the elevators were under maintenance, and it was taking much longer to get a ride. So imagine my surprise when people started hopping on with us. By the time we reached the first floor, there were us 3 Americans (2 panting + me) and 4 locals: a couple of maintenance workers, a businessman with his briefcase and a woman in a full-length fur coat.

All eyes were on us, as Zoey shook, sending fur flying onto the businessman's black slacks, and Bailey sneezed on everyone's shoes. It was a proud moment. Really, I couldn't do anything but chuckle. Such is life with 2 mongrels.


How you could not love these furry faces?