Early Morning Dog Encounter

Shortly after 7 this morning, William and I were making our way up Warren Street on our regular morning walk. As we approached Third Street, heading east, my attention was drawn to a van, stopped at the traffic light. Fierce barking was coming from the van, obviously directed at a delicate whippet-like dog being walked in front of Steiner's on the opposite side of the street.

When the light changed, the van crossed the intersection and continued west. As it neared William and me, who were walking on the north side of the street, the source of the barking--a handsome but intimidating pit bull--suddenly appeared at the open passenger-side window. From that point on, things seemed to happen in slow motion. First the dog's front legs were out the window, then the greater part of the dog's body. Only his hind legs and tail remained inside.

I'd had the experience several years ago of a dog jumping out of a car window to attack William, but that dog was a wimp compared with this one. Instinctively, I stepped in front of my beloved nonagenarian (in human years) and braced myself for whatever was to come. But just as the pit bull was about to be completely out of the van, the woman at the wheel checked the dog, who, it turned out, was on a leash, and then laughed uproariously at the joke that had been played on me. I muttered under my breath, "You think that's funny?" 

At this point, the woman stopped the van and started yelling, whether at me or her dog I'm not sure, but William and I, with as much composure as we could muster, continued our walk.