Last night, I learned the hard way, about a very fascinating Argentine superstition. As Eduardo and I walked back to my hotel after enjoying an incredible steak dinner, I inadvertently stepped in a very large pile of dog poopy. It was dark, and somehow I missed it. Can you imagine my surprise? We were only about 100 yards from the hotel entrance and we were walking on concrete. I knew what I had done as soon as it happened, but I just couldn't believe it.
Dog walking is a thriving business here in Buenos Aires. If I understand it correctly, there is some kind of law that requires owners to walk their dogs everyday. Like everywhere else, people are pretty busy, so they end up paying somebody to walk the dog. I see dog walkers with lots of dogs in tow, just like you see in this picture, all the time. Apparently one of them couldn't wait for the park and left this little surprise for me.
Lucky! (Think of Napoleon Dynamite's Voice)
Since we were so close to the hotel, there were many people there to witness my joy. Everyone kept saying to me, "Señor, tu vas a tener mucho suerte!" which mean, "Sir, you going to have good luck." Every time they said it to me, I laughed harder and harder. I thought they were teasing me, but Eudardo finally explained to me that it really is a tradition here: stepping in dog poopy brings good luck.
I thought he was pulling my leg but I later confirmed it with several people. Apparently though, it is only considered good luck if you have your shoes on. If it happens to you while you are barefoot, it is whole different matter. I never felt so good about stepping in it before in my entire life.
What Mess Are You In?
I would imagine that like me, you probably find yourself stepping in a few poopy situations every now and then. I never thought myself lucky when it happened until now. As I look back on some of those unpleasant moments, I can see that things really turned out for the better. I am going through one particular poopy situation right now that I did not anticipate. After I scraped the pooh off my shoe, I was able to see that the road ahead looks much more enjoyable than the momentary disappointment of stepping in it. You know what they say, "it happens".
What you do when the chips are down and you step in them? How do you choose to respond? Are you able to learn from those unpleasant situations? or Do you choose to stay mired in the muck? When people first started saying I was "lucky" for stepping in it, I thought they were mocking me. When I realized they were cheering me up, I really did feel lucky. Are you there, like my friends on the street last night, to cheer somebody up when it happens to him or her? The next time you step in it, remember, you just stepped into some good luck. Unless of course you are Cheech or Chong and then you might have stepped in dinner.
Life is Good!
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