Rudest woman in the park

Darr and I took Beauty the wonder dog to the Sellwood Riverfront Park last night for some much needed tennis ball play and were happily minding our own business when we were approached by the rudest woman in the park. Ms. McRude and her two kids were picnicking in one of the few shady places in the off-leash area of the park, approximately 25 feet from the highly desired stretch of grass that is next to the river where off-leash dogs are not allowed. And yeah, we notice that there is at least one curious pup - not Beauty, who is so ball-centered she is incapable of noticing anything except tennis balls flying through the air and bouncing on the ground - that joyfully runs over to the picnickers to say hi and sniff out the foods, a friendly dog gesture that clearly is not appreciated or welcomed. I understand this dog behavior is irritating if you aren't a dog lover, and that it is considered a greater annoyance when the dog owners don't immediately come to discipline their dog and remove it from the vicinity, leaving you alone to fend off the persistent animal. But, hey, you chose to sit in the off-leash area of a dog park so...

Instead of getting up and moving, this lady complains loudly about the dogs and yells over a request that all of us dog owners - there are approximately ten in the shady area near her (the nearest around 20 feet from where she was parked) and several more already positioned around the rest of the off-leash part of the park - move to another area. A few dog owners, those with pets that are closer to the 'sometimes I'll listen to you and sometimes I won't' puppy stage eventually move towards the middle of the park. Some of us remain where we are. At this point the lady, unpleased that her request is not immediately granted, charges over to us and says something like "I don't think you understood me," and follows up with a "You're being very rude." She explains that she had gone to another area before and it was closed so she came to this park and that dogs have been bothering her, blah, blah, blah. To which I respond with a defensive "not our dog". Because it wasn't, Beauty didn't go near her or her kids. And then the lady lies. Lies. And says something about how our dog came over but he "didn't take any food". Darr asks the lady which dog is ours but she ignores him, states multiple times that we are being rude, and returns to her blanket. Another dog owner came to our defense during the encounter and let the lady know that she was the one being rude. To this kind lady, we thank you and hope to see both you and your dog back at the park real soon.