A Drop in the Bucket

If any of you have been to mainland China, you would have noticed people using the washroom in public place on a regular basis. This would include peeing or pooping anywhere! One time in the Xi'an airport, we were waiting for a delayed flight back to Shenzhen, and this little girl whipped down her pants and took a nice long leak right next to a garbage can. That's fine and dandy, but is that acceptable when there are public washrooms 20 feet away? I suppose if you've ever been in some Chinese washrooms, public may be a better option! As she was relieving herself, Kaidyn was laughing and amazed that she would use the can in front of everyone.

Usually here in Macau, you may see a parent getting their young child to relieve themselves on the street, but most of the time your eyes are on the sidewalk scouting up ahead for any dog crap you may encounter! Most of the time, dog owners are good here as they pick up any pet waste that they are responsible for. They even bring the daily newspaper along and try to place it under the dog to catch the feces as it PLOPS down! Even when the dogs urinate, they bring along a water bottle to wash off the tree, sidewalk, car tire or scooter that the dog may pee on. It's actually quite considerate when you think about it. Can you imagine someone back in Canada walking their dog and rinsing everything their dog leaks on? I had never seen it before, which brings us to today........

Kaidyn and I were in Taipa getting him a haircut and then we stopped for some pizza at Le Cesar, which has excellent Italian fare. We were sitting upstairs along the windows people watching when I noticed this particular dog owner. He definitely had some sort of  husky cross and he was carrying a medium sized bag and a plastic bucket. He caught my eye, so I was curiously watching his every action and wondered what the heck the bucket was for. Eventually, his dog began to urinate and he quickly placed the empty bucket under the dog to catch all the pee. It was like the dog was peeing liquid gold the way he was chasing the mutt around, anticipating every move. I continued to watch in amusement as I told Kaidyn to look at the guy catching the dog's pee (it may have been the longest pee in K-9 urination history). We both laughed and laughed, but I wasn't quick enough with the camera to catch the mutt in action, but did get a pic of them walking away.

After the dog was done, the man hastily took out some newspaper, anticipating a triple coiler to emerge, but alas, the dog was finished. The man did take the 1/4 full bucket to the storm drain on the street, dumped it out, and rinsed it with his water bottle a couple of times, before leaving the scene.

It's little things like this that make living here in Macao so enjoyable and amusing!