Patricia A. Nugent: Dog Poop

“Hey, got a minute? I need to talk to you.”

He caught me standing in the middle of the road. No, I didn’t have a minute. I was holding dog poop in a tissue because I hadn’t anticipated my dog defecating on this walk so didn’t have a bag with me. 

I glanced at my hand and back at Andrew. “Uh, sure, I guess. But I have dog poop in my hand so I’m not sure you’ll want to talk right now.”

He glanced at my hand and proceeded. “I need to talk about Mike Johnson, the new Speaker. You know, the Nazi. Are you aware of the stuff he’s been saying and doing?”

Suddenly, having a fistful of dog poop seemed appropriate. 

“I’m scared for this country,” he continued. “So scared that I’ve decided to become a citizen so I can vote next November.”

He spoke in his Scottish brogue, lilting tones incongruent with his ominous words. He told me his German wife is also pursuing citizenship but is fearful of staying in a country that’s following a too-familiar path toward fascism. A downslide to which she is qualified to testify. 

Germany became Nazi Germany – before that, it was just Germany. 

“Wow. You’re making a strong commitment to our democracy, more than most who are born here seem willing to make,” I replied, the poop starting to seep through the tissue. He noticed, yet was not deterred: “Plus, I don’t want to be thrown out if Trump gets elected.” 

He and his wife own their home, have professional careers, and aren’t even from “shit-hole countries.” Yet, they fear being deported.

We happen to be talking in front of a gay couple’s home, neighbors fearful that their marriage would be jeopardized by Trump’s pledge to “root out…Radical Left Thugs that live like vermin,” a term associated with Jewish exterminations. Looking at their front door, decorated with pumpkins for the holiday, words that scare me tumbled out: “Andrew, I would fight for you. I’d risk my life if I saw you or these guys getting hauled away. I wouldn’t be like Germans who closed their curtains to avoid seeing Jewish neighbors rounded up. I couldn’t live with myself.” 

At least I hope I’d be brave enough to defend those endangered by a fascist regime, which would be most of the people I know. The most haunting exhibit for me at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum featured those who fought back, heroes who risked their lives and families to protect and defend others. Some survived to tell their stories; others didn’t. I’ve always asked myself if I’d have had the courage to try. Could I be a Miep Gies? 

Intimidation effectively quells resistance. A Proud Boy from Florida left a message on my website that he’s “watching” me because I had attended a protest after they had marched through town without a permit and were not challenged. (I repeat: No law enforcement intervened although they marched in the streets in upstate New York and threatened a local business owner who asked them to leave because they were scaring her young daughter.) 

His veiled threat obviously didn’t shut me up; I can’t let it. As Audre Lourde reminds us, “Your silence will not protect you.” 

After September 11th, my mom announced that if another country attempted a coup here, she’d enlist to protect our elected leaders. That shocked me, not only because of her advanced age at the time, but because my mother HATED President Bush and, even more, Dick Cheney. She’d practically spit whenever she spoke their names. Yet, she would have defended them against those trying to destroy our democracy. Today, 22 years later, the biggest threat to our democracy comes from within, fueled by anti-democratic forces. Most troubling is that brainwashed Americans – good-hearted people – are falling for the propaganda campaign! 

But not Andrew, on his way to becoming a U.S. citizen. “I’d fight for you, too,” Andrew replied without hesitation. He notes my flag supporting women’s rights, voting rights, gay rights, climate justice, and Black Lives Matter, causes that inexplicably agitate MAGA supporters. What Andrew doesn’t yet know is that a book titled The Bad War was recently left in my personal Little Free Library. The book graphically glorifies Hitler, denies the Holocaust, and condemns Jews. It’s inscribed with the name of a local contractor, whom I have yet to confront. But I will. Because, to quote Maya Wiley,professor and civil rights activist, “Silence in the face of hate and lies is the greatest threat to democracy and to our safety. We must call out the complicit.”

It’s safer, in the long run, to call out hatred and lies than let our nation be overtaken by them. 

“Well, looks like you have your hands full,” Andrew laughed, as the tissue began to drip through my fingers. 

“We all do, don’t we? Invite me to your naturalization ceremony. I promise I’ll clean myself up first.” Smiling, I headed home, wondering which part of this conversation he’d most likely remember. 

Although it feels like there isn’t enough soap in the world to clean up the mess we’ve created, we have to start somewhere. As the Facebook meme cautions, “If you’ve ever wondered what you’d have done during the Holocaust, you’re doing it now.” So, defend the oppressed, register voters, study unvarnished history, support your local library, run for office. And, of course, pick up after your dog, and then be sure to wash your hands. 

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Copyright 2023 Patricia A. Nugent

Patricia A. Nugent is the author of the memoirs They Live On: Saying Goodbye to Mom and Dad, and Healing with Dolly Lama: Finding God in Dog, as well as editor of Before They Were Our Mothers: Voices of Women Born Before Rosie Started Riveting.