It’s amazing sometimes the lessons you learn in ways you’d never expect. I had that experience over the last couple of days while kicking around my neighborhood with my scary Pit Bull. You know Pit Bulls. These are the out-of-control dogs that that kill as easily as they pee. They maim for fun. Rape and pillage are part of their breeding. Yeah, right.

An animal’s behavior is a product of its owner. Period. And you know who knows this: kids.

My terrifying Pit Bill, Panache, likes to run. Lots of times, I open the front door of my house and just let her bound across the street. We’ve got an apartment complex over there and there are always lots of kids out in the parking lots doing what kids do. And whenever Panache goes bounding out of the house at a full sprint, the kids all squeal in delight, “Doggie!!!” They love her, and Panache reciprocates by incessantly licking them all. Contrast this with another neighbor.

I just got a new bike and I’ve been dialing it in. When I spin it around the block I like to take Panache (and Bella) with me me so they can get a little work-out. They spend too much time inside. The other day I had the two of them out with me and Panache went running up to the stairs of a neighbor’s house. The stairs and the whole front yard were enclosed with a fence. Behind the fence stood a man and his dog.

As Panache approached the fence to greet them both the man yelled at her “HHEEEEEEEEEEYYYYYYY.” He yelled in terror as if he were about to meet his maker. He yelled in anger and fear. He then yelled at me: “IS THAT A PIT BULL??!?!?” I calmly lied, “no,” and calmly rode on. Panache and Bella followed. The man and his dog live to this day.

What is it that happens to us when we age? It seems what we gain in reason we lose because of our ability to comprehend the evil that man can do. But make no mistake: Panache and Pit Bulls are not killers by nature. They are made that way by evil men whose antisocial nature is fed only by malice. And we could all learn a lot and live a lot easier if we’d sometimes learn to again live with the nature of a child.

Panache and Bella strike a terrifying pose on the couch