Dog poop baggies are showing up in my neighborhood.
Someone walking a pet is dropping these baggies on lawns, including mine. I think it's happening after dark. His (or her) identity is unknown.
Since I take evening strolls around here, it's possible I'll notice this person from afar when he strikes again. How will I react?
I've fantasized revengeful scenarios against this jerk. Every one of these paybacks involve the contents of the baggie. And his door knob. Or his door mat. Or his car seat.
Revenge is wrong. I'll rein in those flights of imagination. But envisioning that guy reaching for his door knob--his greasy door knob--puts a smile on my face.
Last week another baggie (the one in the photo) appeared near the sidewalk. A new idea came to mind. If I observe the perpetrator in action, I'll rattle his cage.
That'll mean trailing him to his home, getting his address, and obtaining his name.
The next day he'll find an anonymous note--a scarlet letter--inside his mailbox. The note will threaten him with a public outing if another baggie shows up.
Is shaming, or the possibility of being shamed, effective? In Texas, a teenager got arrested for ripping off a K-Mart store. The judge sentenced him to stand outside the store for one week. The boy carried a sign about his crime. Later the kid wrote a letter to the judge. It read, 'I had seven days, eight hours a day, to reflect on my life. I didn't want to continue this mode of self-destruction any more.'
The manager at K-Mart reported no thefts during that week. Shaming indeed deters misbehavior.
When the perpetrator in my neighborhood opens his mailbox, he'll discover more than my note inside it. Greeting him will be a return to sender baggie.
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