30 Sep Why I hate Carl

I was doing a photoshoot on my roof deck the other day [I do freelance photography], and right as I moved to a new position, with my nice big expensive camera, a seagull pooped on me. And not just a little bit of bird crap – this was a massive, cleansing of the bowels bird crap. My first reaction, of course, was to start screaming (which kind of startled the people I was taking pictures of) and to run into the house and after realizing it had splattered all over my camera (not to mention all down my hair), stick my head in the shower.

For those of you who live or work in Pioneer Square, I’m sure that this has happened to you. I was telling Phillip (who works the information booth at Occidental Square), who says that it’s actually good luck when a bird poops on you and that you should go out and buy a lottery ticket.

The Husband and I have named the bird Carl, and I swear he has it out for us. If we’re up on a deck people watching, he dive bombs us. We always have to warn people before they go on our deck that he’s out there, waiting. I know and you know that every time sometimes when they poop on you, it’s totally intentional.

After mentioning our experiences with Carl to our friends, they recommended getting owls (plastic) for our deck. So I did – two in fact. Let me show you how well this works out in P²:

Here’s another example of what could happen to you if you become reticent to the bird problem:

(Just kidding.. this bird is her “pet” – if you haven’t ever taken the time to talk to this fascinating woman, you should. Ask her about her chicken)