In honor of war dogs past and present, the Metuchen Environmental Commission invites you and your four footed friend to march in the Memorial Day Parade sponsored by the Metuchen Area Chamber of Commerce.
Gather by 9:30 AM on May 25 in the
All dogs must be well behaved, kept on a leash at all times, and walked by an adult. Red, white and blue ribbons are encouraged!
I have to believe that the majority of the negative posts come from a small pocket of individuals who will find fault with just about anything.
Its the anonymity that that give peoples license to say the things they do on the internet. I worked for years as an information operator at my university and you cannot believe what people will say if the dont have to give their name. Even at NJ.com, where people are assigned screen names, you see the same thing. If people had to put their proper name at the end of their posts, the internet would suddenly be civil again, but also very, very, very quiet. Few would post.
it's an internet thing, not just an nj.com thing. go to any site on the internet that allows comments and you will find people arguing. maybe people are tired of having to be politically correct all the time in their lives, and they need an outlet to be a little snarky.
Semper Fi Mac!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any Marine will tell you that it is perfectly fine for dogs to be walking in a Memorial Day parade and if Chesty was the dog walking, they would salute him. Of course, that is because chances are the Sargent Major of the Marine Corps would be walking him and is the only enlisted man that deserves a salute (besides any Medal of Honor winner).
I am a veteran, if I am not insulted or think it strange, why should you?
I think most people who read nj.com know that most of the comments posted are gong to be negative and nasty because that is the way most people are on those websites, that is why I don't read them, people make stuff up. This website is more family oriented and some of the postings are surprising and mean.
8:19, If you think this kind of thing is limited to Metuchen you're mistaken. Check out some of the other towns on nj.com. The Edison forum is a good (bad) example. It's an internet thing, not a Metuchen thing.
Anne. Don't get caught in the trap of trying to control people's thoughts. We are better off to encourage them how and where to say it. This was a good article with a postive spin. Then someone got mad about dogs, Why? Well maybe there was a good reason... Truth is you are also right. There was a Misc Talk section that would have been better and then Jana and George could have developed it as editors if they thought it was worth it. Hopefully, people will pick that up to use Misc Talk. As you can tell I like the idea of dogs in the parade.
I think it's a nice idea. I have worked along side military dogs and they are wonderful loving animals. They have saved countless lives and deserve our thanks. Maybe one day if the area ever gets a dog park it could be named in their honor.
I'm completely amazed by the number of off topic posts lately. The piece was about dogs walking in the parade in honor of the Military Working Dogs. Canine's that by working with the military have SAVED lives. The "anonymous" option on this site is a great thing but you never know what the topic will morph into. I wonder if there can be an additional page on this site entitled "RANTS".
May 22, 2009 8:19 AM I have tried to keep my wife. I am the first poster on this article here replying to you. Yeah, I think you are right people leave most community social events alone. They go after the political issues. There are a few trolls here and there are some kids (what ever that means chrono or bio) I am a little surprised at the negative comments on this one, but while out running early this morning, I saw a neighbor looking out of his window eye balling a guy walking two dogs with no poop bag. I have talked to the guy with the dogs before, a nice man but he was not native to Metuchen. So some of the above posters do have a point. That tells me people are concerned about there community.
That's good. When you stop being concerned things fall apart. Look at the communities surrounding you and I just do not mean Edison. Woodbridge had to hire more people to enforce code violations, and then analyze what sections of their township and what ethnic makes ups were getting violations to assure they were not discriminating. Do you know how expensive that is to do?
The guy by the way with the dog was an immigrant sorry--Western European not Asian. So you know he has not been in the town more then a few years. He just did not know the law. Our council has ways to communicate to our inhabitants what their responsibilities are, just saying "read the Boro Ordinance does not work." It does not work if you lived 50 years in Metuchen either. I think that is why people tend to get upset.
R's you are no better then the D's are correcting this issue. It is easy to do and we have four lawyers sitting up on that dais and I have to tell you how it says something.
Now, as to people being nasty, yeah it is a social thing. Lot of reasons. I am not going into a social lesson, but it has a lot has to do with this area. This area being the tri-state region. If you were to move out of state like I did and then come back you could understand the difference. You move to NC, SC or VA, I am here to tell you that are instantly recognized as New Jersey or New York and given the treatment assimilate or get lost. Point being, we should all double check what we say before our "tough talk" creeps in a little too much for our own good. I often wonder what makes people think they can call others names and then act surprised and scared for their lives when someone has a hand around their throat and they are acting like they did nothing wrong.
Me I think I am going to get Bugsy out of the accounting department now. He likes chewing shoes to. Have a good Memorial day everyone.
You are correct, however maybe the people running this town should reconsider their attitudes. The problem in Metuchen right now is Machine Politics has taken over. Self-interest has taken over. Unfortunately Metuchen has changed, and not for the good. This all started about 10 years ago.
I have tried to keep my wife from coming to sites like this and NJ.com when convincing her that the town I grew up in for 23 years is the best place for our family.
However, more and more I am starting to re-think this due to some of the most ridiculous comments that are made.
It is funny how on this site, if there is something positive in the community like the boy scouts, the bingo fundraiser and other topics along those lines, no comments.
Mention something in politics, a sign in town or g-d forbid dogs walking in a parade, then let the winners come out with the comments. I still volunteer in town, drive 20 minutes everyday to try and help out the community I grew up in and love, but more and more I am starting to look at Metuchen in a different way. Not sure I want to move back to a town where people just complain about everything and insult every person they can think of.
You can say it is a few individuals/trolls, but when someone who doesn't know the town reads the comments, it gives the wrong impression.
They did it last year and there were only a few dogs. Not a big deal.
Working dogs have been used by the US Military since WWI. During the Vietnam Conflict close to 4,00 dogs were used. Most call these dogs "War Dogs" but the proper name is Military Working Dogs. These Work dogs were specially trained as Scout Dogs that walked "point" looking for booby traps and the like and would alert the patrol. They also used these dogs in combat tracker teams that helped find downed pilots or wounded GI's, they worked with "tunnel rats" to detect bombs and tunnel complexes in support of combat engineers and of course for sentry duty. The purpose of the Dogs in the Memorial Day Parade is to honor these canine hero's. Some of which gave their lives for their handler.
Does anyone besides me think it's odd the Environmental Commission wants you to bring a Dog to the Memorial Day parade?
I would have thought,,, something that can be planted? Something recycled? Something "GREEN" Some way to show your helping Metuchen be environmental friendly?
What is next a ENVIROMENTAL dog park?
And this commission who does a great job and did the new filter system at Tommy's is now asking to bring a dog to a parade?
Let's see how many people get bitten on Monday. Maybe we should have a animal warden on stand by.
Maybe they are doing a dog waste contest?
Maybe we can have a cop check all the dogs to make sure they are all registered to make sure we are getting money for the budget.
Jeez - it's a fun, community day. Hot Dogs, picnics, heading down to the beach... If you want it to be 100% solomn, spend it in your house of worship. Nothing wrong with adding fun to a day of remembrance. Lighten up!
Dogs? We honor those who gave their lives in defense of our country with ribbon-wrapped dogs?
For the person who keeps letting their dog poop on my lawn and then not cleaning it up, in honor of the veterans, if you’re walking in the parade, have the decency to have a pooper scooper and clean it up.
Jana love it. Good one. You made the morning. Maybe I will borrow our company mascot Bugsy Noodles a 65 pound or so Bull Dog and come on down. I could see him in R/W/B like the little fellow in the picture. Bugsy got some serious flatulence issues because everyone feeds him (when are people going to learn) but outside he won't be bad at all.