The Veteran Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Ok before I even start writing here I want to say as clearly as possible DO NOT continue reading this if you have recently lost a pet yourself. If you've lost a pet in the past however, as I'm sure most of us have, then give me some feedback because I'd really like to hear how other people feel about this... The origin of this frustration is facebook and it's not the first time I've been annoyed by similar things. I'm sure everyone is familiar with Facebook status updates and how completely pointless most of them are. I think there are a handful of categories that most of these can be attributed to including utter mush (ie. I love my so and so so much and life isn't worth living without you and blah blah blah) hate rants (ie. some people need to mind their own business/#### off/get a life/etc and so on) chain status' (ie. post this if you support x/have pink socks/like cookies) and I'm sure many others... All of these drive me mad on almost every level, even the really sweet ones about mums on mothers day and such. They're just SOOO overdone and unnecessary but I think what gets me most is that the mother in question is probably the only person in the known world who will never see the update. It's just a shameless display of unnecessary emotions to people who really don't need or want to know the information being shared. We don't care if your white trash boyfriend is cheating on you or your head over heels in love with your special little pricess, just keep it to yourselves!!! Anyway, to get to the point I've just seen a status which doesn't fit into any of the above categories as it's really rather sad. One of my 'friends' (read : people I don't know and have never met) on facebook has had a few status updates over the last few days regarding the ever decreasing health of their family pet. I've seen people do the same for family members too and of course everyone gets an epitaph on Facebook nowadays as the norm. Please note this is not what I have a problem with, it's very sad, a good way to grieve and a way for people to offer their support in response and such... What's hacked me off today (and not for the first time) is the absolutely ludicrous responses that this person has received since she posted that sadly her dog was now gone. The post by her was nice and normal but it was followed up by dozens of people posting the most ridiculously over the top comments. To make matters worse, these people probably don't even know her based on the number of friends she has and the fact that I only have her for games myself. Just to note a few of the responses, here are the ones that have made me want to slap someone...my heart breaks for you[pet] is in a better placeYou know he will be waiting at Rainbow Bridgeat least he is up there now playing with my [pet] and my [pet] having funi know how that pain feels. i lost my best friend last weekmy heart is hurting for youI'm sure she's in a better place and at least she didn't have to suffer longthe dear lord is taking care of him now hes up there with my little [pet] And of course the final straw is this IDIOT!...sometimes a pet can be just like a child.. there is a place for the animals , I do believe cause God would not make a living being,, and not have a place for them,,, I call it doggie heaven,Yes of course, a pet is exactly like a child isn't it? I bet if you said that to someone who had lost a pet and a child you'd be answered with a smack in the face. I've lost several dogs and a handful of smaller pets but I can't even imagine for one second what it would be like to lose my son... Maybe it wasn't meant to be taken that literally and they simply mean 'while you have them they are as dear to you as a child?' I don't know but it sounds stupid to me... And doggie heaven? Really? How old is this person? It sounds like a child telling their teacher that Goldie has gone to the big toilet in the sky! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a believer in any kind of heaven personally but that doesn't mean I'd ever try to take it away from those that have it. I'll never tell anyone that their dead friends and relatives are just 'gone forever' I they believe in a place as wonderful as heaven. It's not my place... But dogs? What about all the other animals then? What about plagued rats? Are they all up in heaven making people sick again? Are the dinosaurs up there? (I'm resisting the urge to point out that certain Christians don't believe in dinosaurs, this is not a religious debate I'm trying to start!) Moving back on topic... I just think it's an absolute joke that these people can be so overly emotional over pets. Sure I know how much it hurts to lose a pet, especially one you've had for a long time. I do get the feeling this is a long time family pet too so it's not as bad as I'm making it out to be but my problem is NOT with the person who experienced the loss but all these freaks who are reacting like she's lost a parent or spouse... Is this really a healthy way to help someone get over a loss? So discuss, and please don't be offended by any of the above. It's just my personal opinions on the matter but of course that doesn't make anyone else's less valid! Please lets try to keep the whole God/religion thing OUT of here though as it's a good way to get a thread shut down... In fact I've already said more than I should've done but I'll let myself off just this once I guess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jman4117 Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 Moomew is my child and we will totally be riding dinosaurs in hell. Assuming he doesn't eat them all > Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunflash Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I have offically lost all interest in anything you have to say. Afk playing with the kitties! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 haha this is going great so far Like I say guys, it#s not that I don't understand how painful it is to lose a pet. It's not that I don't understand they are our friends either. My problem is with these people treating it like it's the end of the world and making it way more serious than it really is. Losing a pet is awful but it doesn't compare to losing a person and most of these comments I posted sound like they're about the latter to me... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKF Posted June 5, 2011 Share Posted June 5, 2011 I'm going to make a tongue in cheek remark here, but: Welcome to the internet, home of over-sensitive social networking! These days I find myself switching off at some of the user commentary where commentary is available. While it can be useful and thought provoking, it is also often littered with inane comments that either reflect the personality of their authors or were thoughts that were formed that went straight to the fingertips before going through the head. In either cases, it does bring out extremes. edit: On a side note, one of the web forums I frequent has a Trivial Irritations thread in its general discussion where you can post about some of the trivial things that annoy you. And a counter thread for trivial things that make you happy. Wonder if that's worth pursuing? - NKF Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 You know he will be waiting at Rainbow Bridge is the best and must surely be a piss-take? On Facebook, to cut down on this sort of thing, I'm only friends with actual friends. If they're incapable of being sensible, block their posts. I'm actually in favour of displaying emotion (insofar as we Brits can be said to have emotions), and while the object of said emotion may never see it, apparently it's the thought that counts? Think of things like Remembrance Day. I don't believe for one second dead service men and women are looking down from Heaven when I have two minutes silence. I think the problem on FB is the saccharine bullshit, rather than honest emotion. As for kids, you cannot shut people up about their children. You could stick a pistol in their mouth and they would gargle about how their little darling wowed the audience at the school play. The only solution is too have some of your own and get boasting. I don't know of any organised religion that says pets go to Heaven, so we're safe there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Space Voyager Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I don't use FB. I do have an account but I haven't checked it in ages. Especially after a multitude of people wanted to "be my friends" just because they ran into me through my actual friends' lists. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 phew, I was starting to worry I was on my own here for a while, thanks guys! NKF, you're quite right and that's exactly the feeling I was trying to get across. Everyone has genuine feelings and I'm not trying to tell anyone that you shouldn't share emotional events in your life like the loss of a loved one, be they furry or not. I think this particular case was probably made worse by the fact that most of the responses are coming from people who have never met this woman OR her dog and are just talking crap. I have hundreds of friends on Facebook for the sole purpose of games I play but I would NEVER comment on their status unless it was a thought provoking question of some kind. As far as I'm concerned, I have no right to comment on the life and times of people I know nothing about. Sadly it seems not everyone agrees... And no, the rainbow bridge comment was completely genuine! I don't even know what it means to be honest but I'm guessing it's yet another 'doggie heaven' reference... Stupid people, the woman is post middle age, she's not a child! I also have to agree about the over-posting of children and their achievements, though not entirely. If a child does well in a performance for example (as you mentioned) then by all means share it, be proud. So it's a sin, who cares? I don't, do you guys? It's the people who just never shut up about it that get annoying. Especially the oh-so superior parents who are clearly taking the time to point out how much better their child is than anyone elses can possibly ever be. Ugh, give it a rest, I very rarely post about my little boy on Facebook and I'm actually having another baby come Novemebr time but you know what? This is the first time I've mentioned it on the internet at all! As far as I'm concerned, the people in my life who are actually really genuinely important to me already know. Anyone who has to find out via facebook really doesn't need to know and I don't want to listen to 500 people I'll never meet saying 'congrats' when they don't even care! And no offence to you guys, I love you all but none of you will ever meet me or my kids Gotta dash now and ake little man to nursery, maybe I should put that on my status for 15 minutes and then change it from 'is taking' to 'has taken' when I get back? That's the kind of annoyingly pontless updates that get me. Worst for me are though are thye lovey-dovey comments. All the princesses and angels and can't live wihout you and so happy I met you and ALLLLL the other variations of the same thing... mUGH makes me SICK! By all means be in love, just STFU ABOUT IT!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FullAuto Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 Gotta dash now and ake little man to nursery, maybe I should put that on my status for 15 minutes and then change it from 'is taking' to 'has taken' when I get back? That's the kind of annoyingly pontless updates that get me. "Just taken little Veteran to nursery. He's so disciplined it's amazing! No screaming, no crying, no incontinence, no throwing of faeces. Why can't every child be as well-drilled as mine?" will be your next status update, I bet. I have one friend who never shuts up about her children on FB, she posts about them every day. It actually gives me the impression she hates and resents them. I doubt she does, I'm sure the emotion is genuine, but if I were doing that, I'd be taking it that far in mockery. Or I'd be posting stuff like "FullAuto Jr. shit himself today. Okay, he's a newborn, and that was his first ever bowel movement, but still, I am disappointed at his lack of control. He has not inherited his father's willpower." I'm actually having another baby come Novemebr And I thought you were a man! Worst for me are though are thye lovey-dovey comments. All the princesses and angels and can't live wihout you and so happy I met you and ALLLLL the other variations of the same thing... mUGH makes me SICK! By all means be in love, just STFU ABOUT IT!!! When you're in love, you're not in your right mind. Posting on FB is the least of it. Not that I know what it is to love. My emotions consist of the last vestiges of hatred and bitterness, along with tea and occasionally crumpets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorondor Posted June 6, 2011 Share Posted June 6, 2011 I'm actually having another baby come Novemeber*Turn submitted**Turn processed**Test turn outcome* And I thought you were a man!You chauvinist pig! :: from A Turn-Based Life Simulator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Veteran Posted June 6, 2011 Author Share Posted June 6, 2011 Don't you oppress me! It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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