Doggie Gourmet Blues

I went to the mall yesterday looking for a new knapsack. It's hard to find just the right kind. Anyhow, this mall used to be the only one in the area. About 10 years ago they built a super mall 3 miles down the road. The original mall has managed to survive despite being smaller and attracting a more "blue collar" crowd so to speak. It has most of the usual mall kiosks like custom tee-shirts, gold by the inch, etc. One kiosk that caught my eye was this homemade doggie baked goods place. There was this woman sitting at a table with all these little bags of fancy dog treats. I'm sure these treats would be all the rage in Beverly Hills, or some other upscale place, but it seemed like a really bad idea to sell them at this mall. I sat on a bench eating my garlic pretzel and watching her table for about half an hour. One woman approached the table, but only wanted to chat. There were no customers. I almost felt compelled to go buy a small five dollar bag just to give her some business. As much as I love my dog, I could not bring myself to do this. My dog would not know or care about where the treat came from. She would probably prefer something from a garbage can. Why am I even writing about this ? (I ask myself). I think the doggie gourmet woman represented yet another well-intentioned exercise in futility. Maybe it's a metaphor for life. I guess sometimes the value is in the exercise, not the result.