A dog on the beach

The following story has four participants, a French lady on holiday in Greece, her Chihuahua dog, a Greek police officer and a Greek man who presumably was enjoying a day on the beach.

Regular readers will be aware that I occasionally refer to life’s lessons, those invaluable moments where we learn how to behave properly within society. To deal with problems rationally and with a calm disposition. To think before we speak. To give thought to the consequences of our actions. To tackle issues without the use of rudeness or intimidating behaviour. To show courtesy, politeness and good manners. To learn from our mistakes. All the things we should all learn early in life but unfortunately some people’s education is sorely lacking.

This incident occurred on the island of Crete. The main event was witnessed by us and the final result was related by a Greek friend.

Now it is important to set the scene. The beach in question has achieved blue flag status and as a result, dogs are not allowed on the beach. The problem is that there are a very small number of stray dogs that frequent the town and they occasionally wander onto the beach and curl up beside a visitor in the hope of a free meal. Visitors, many from northern Europe and Scandinavia welcome these dogs and enjoy having them around and so unless anybody objects the “no dog” is treated with a degree of flexibility.

It was a Sunday, we were in our usual beachside cafe having a drink, the temperature was in the high 30s and the beach was fairly busy with a mix of locals and holidaymakers.

As I supped my Alpha beer I noticed a young lady with a Chihuahua dog tucked under her arm step onto the beach and head for the shower. The dog was panting due to the heat and it was fairly obvious that her intention was to dampen the dog down.

As the lady reached the shower she held the tiny dog at arm’s length, turned on the water and the Chihuahua was given a good soaking.

Unfortunately at this moment a Greek gentleman approached waving his arms and shouting. Whilst we are not fluent in Greek we understood the drift. The Greek man was angry that there was a dog on the beach and was expressing himself forcibly. The lady immediately departed the beach and all would have been over if the irate local had let things go but he didn’t and followed the lady off the beach. From her speech is was obvious that the tourist was French who didn’t speak Greek and the furious local resident didn’t speak French. They both, however, spoke reasonably good English, very convenient for us as we were able to follow the tableaux that followed.

The lady profusely apologized for taking her dog onto the beach but as she explained the little dog was hot and suffering and just needed cooling off and pointed out, quite rightly, that there is not a sign that indicates that dogs are not allowed.

That should have been the end of the matter but the local man was not mollified. His behaviour was now becoming very hostile, even menacing, in fact, he was now threatening to call the police.

The young lady by now was obviously distressed and told him to call the police, which he did and within minutes a policeman arrived on a motorbike. It may seem strange in some other parts of the world that the police are called for such a trivial matter but here in Greece, it is the norm.

The conversation between the officer and the man was conducted in Greek but the gist was obvious, he was very upset that the dog was in the beach, animals were dirty creatures and he wanted the lady arrested.

The policeman then turned to the lady who attempted to explain why she had done it and that she was very sorry. Her explanations unfortunately we’re constantly interrupted by the aggrieved local as they were conducted in English and he understood every word.

The policeman, irritated at the constant interruptions finally told the man to be quiet and not interrupt.

As a behaviourist, I found the whole thing fascinating. The man was becoming more and more agitated over what was a fairly minor incident. The French tourist was calm, courteous and respectful to the officer and it was plain to see from his body language that his sympathy lay with the lady and he was becoming irritated with the local. I must admit I was actually quite amazed that anyone would sacrifice having a lazy time on the beach for what was nothing more than a minor infraction. Presumably he had a problem with dogs. This would have been understandable if the offending animal had been a Rottweiler or a German Shepherd Dog or any other large dog, but a Chihuahua?

We have cats bigger than this dog!

At last, the policeman indicated that he had heard enough and suggested that the matter was closed, the man should return to the beach and the lady go on her way.

Unfortunately the local was unwilling to do this and berated the police officer.

Now I was brought up to respect police officers, after all, you never know when you may need one.

Sadly in the modern world, it appears to be a rather outdated attitude

What followed was a lesson for all in “good manners”, “think before you speak” and above all “don’t annoy policemen!!”

The irate local was informed that before any action could be taken the policeman needed a statement from him and this required a visit to the police station. The man showed reluctance as he could see his day on the beach disappearing, however, the retort from the policeman was to the effect… “Having called me you are not going to waste my time.”

The individual then went back to his hired beach lounger,  collected his belongings, put his clothes on and departed for the police station. The ice cold beer that he was enjoying and that he had only just started was now undrinkable and was abandoned.

As it was such a beautiful day we decided to stop for lunch, a Greek salad followed by burger and chips

The aggrieved local man returned several hours later decidedly chastened. He was too far away for us to hear his complaining first hand but we received a full update later from Yannis the cafe proprietor. Yannis was someone who benefited from tourism and was totally unsympathetic to the local man. His comment was, “The miserable man is always complaining about something!!”

The man had spent hours at the police station before he could make his complaint.

And the final result

He was informed that the town relied to a degree on tourism and treating tourists with politeness was essential and his intimidating attitude had left him open to charges of threatening behaviour. He was therefore lucky that the French tourist didn’t lay charges against him.

As for the charge of allowing a dog onto the beach, as the dog in question had not actually stepped onto the beach it was debatable if an offence had even been committed!!