Racism Here in Coronado

A girlfriend and I decided to enjoy a much needed happy hour after work at McP's on Wednesday night. We sat out on the patio and started to talk all about our day.

Immediately, though, we were interrupted by a dog barking and noticed that the barking was coming from a large SUV in the parking lot of the bar. I checked to see that the windows were cracked, and they were somewhat. We went on with our night and tried to ignore the frustrated dog.

When it came time to pay our bill, the waitress told us that she didn't know what to do, that the SUV with the dog had been parked there for four hours and the couple was inside partying it up. This immediately angered me to learn that the dog was left in the vehicle for that long, and because of his barking, he was obviously uncomfortable. My friend and I went into the bar and asked the bartender if he was aware of the dog situation, and he said he was, but he thought that the couple had left. He walked outside with us to check, and the couple was sitting outside now, the dog still barking, nothing had changed.

My friend, who is African-American, spotted the couple and suggested that perhaps they should take the dog out for a bit and get him some air. She said it in a nice manner, but the couple, in their belligerent state, became very defensive.

They told my friend the dog was just fine. My friend then said, "I don't think he is, he seems very upset, he has been barking for a long time."

The man then said to my friend, "He's angry because he hates black people!"

I couldn't believe that someone, here in our little town, could say something so backward, so mean, and so racist. My friend and I decided to call the police department to come out and check on the dog. I know there isn't much they could do about a rude and terrible comment, but at least they could check into the dog's welfare.

Just a tip: Leave your dog at home, in the yard, if you plan on drinking it up for hours! It's not fair to the animal to be boxed in a car that long, especially a large dog.

And if you are going to have a racist 1950’s mentality, please keep your opinions to yourself!