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I was sitting in a boring chain restaurant in downtown Roanoke eating my boring-but-Weight-Watchers-friendly lunch when through the giant glass window I spotted a man and his dog at the corner waiting for the light to change.

The guy was nicely dressed, Polo shirt and fresh pressed khakis, corporate-approved haircut, and I assumed he lived and worked downtown and was taking his pooch out for a noon potty break. In my imagination his name is Joe.

The dog was a gorgeous pit bull mix with the big, broad, ear-to-ear smile that make pitties so beautiful. She was the color of vanilla ice cream, and since I grew up in the Midwest and we bought our dairy products from a company called Borden whose mascot was a smiling cow named Elsie, in my imagination this dog's name is Elsie.

I imagine that Joe and Elsie have not been together long, but Joe is gently determined to have Elsie be a good dog and do things his way. Joe wanted Elsie to sit while waiting for the light to change. Elsie, on the other hand, had a more social agenda. And if there is one thing I know for sure about a pittie, they stick to an agenda, and it's not necessarily yours.

Joe: "Sit Elsie."

Elsie: "OK Dad. In a minute."

Joe: "Sit Elsie"

Elsie: "Hey Dad, do you see this nice lady standing here? Oh hi, nice lady!"  Nice lady smiles at Elsie.

Joe: "Sit Elsie. " Joe tugs a little on the leash.

Elsie: "Oh, yeah, just a minute. Did you see this other nice lady over here? Hi new nice lady!" Elsie wraps the leash around Joe's legs to make eye contact with the other lady. She also smiles.

Joe: "Elsie, sit! I mean it!" Joe spins in a circle to unwrap himself from the leash.

Elsie: "What was that you wanted me to do, Dad? I was saying hi to that guy on the other corner."

Joe: "Elsie, sit right now!"

Elsie: "Oh yeah, OK." Elsie plops her butt to the concrete about a half nanosecond before the glowing yellow hand indicated she and Joe could cross the street.

And off they went. And my day was instantly brightened and my boring sandwich tasted so much better.