Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.

Lithium

There is great freedom in realizing that you have no faith in humanity.

It allows you to tell people 'No' without guilt.

Derp

@Ganymede

Oooh. What are you teaching, sensei?

Misadventure

@derp Euthanasia.

For the ... cat?

surreality

...yeeeeeeeeeeah, that was the read I had on it, too, and if the critter is not suffering and miserable, 'put it out of its misery so I won't be bothered by people who need to learn manners' is just not the kind of solution that works for me, because goddamn.

Having to take my own cat to that final appointment a few years ago still has me caught in the sniffles once a week after a couple of years now, she was such a beloved member of the family, and she probably would have fallen over on her own a day or so later she was deteriorating from out of nowhere so damned fast, losing over half her bodyweight in a week and going from hopping on the back of the chair to being unable to move.

There's compassionate euthanasia, and then there's 'kill someone's beloved pet so you won't be inconvenienced by rude people once in a blue', which is a really ugly sort of callous even as a fucking joke.

Misadventure

@aria Jokes aside, they should stop saying they will pay if they arn't going to. Its just a BS ritual to shield their fragile egos when they can't ask straight up for free catcare.

We don't pay money for catcare. We let people move in, for free AC, fireplace, laundry, food, internet, and gas money. However, we have friends for whom that is a real benefit.

Sunny

I think @Ganymede was suggesting kill the people, not the cat. ^^

surreality

@sunny I really hope so.

Aria

@misadventure Ohhh, I'm well aware. I mean, would this still be a bit of a pain in the butt to do either way? Yes. Would I find it significantly less annoying if they asked me, I don't know.... a week or so advance, and freely acknowledged that yes, I'm doing them a free favor and maybe they can get my back the next time I'm out of town? Yeeeeeeeeeeup.

Ganymede

@derp said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

What are you teaching, sensei?

Real property law.

@sunny said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

I think @Ganymede was suggesting kill the people, not the cat. ^^

No, I was suggesting the cat. Hear me out on this.

I am of the firm belief that every person should have the right to determine when their lives will end. This is the fundament of my anarchic beliefs. I am also of the belief that some people, in their desperate need for attachment and connection, cling to others beyond the point where it is healthy for them or the others.

Animals can't really speak for themselves, so it's hard to know when they would rather take a nice long nap. But I've seen animals -- blind, deaf, struggling to breathe, suffering from cancer, or all of the above -- who more likely than not would rather visit the Great Litter Box / Cornucopia of Treats in the Sky than to continue on with their miserable, lackluster owners. And I think that we, as their caretakers, need to sometimes take stock of when we're curing them for their sake or for ours.

That said, people who neglect or toss their animals to the side for convenience do need to fucking die horribly deaths.

surreality

@ganymede I didn't get the impression the cat was quite at that point just yet.

For instance, our lazybot is also getting a little rickety, is around the same age, and she now requires meds -- but the vet never once suggested it was time for her to move on or that she was horribly suffering in any capacity.

If it's time, or likely nearing time, your vet will definitely say something to that end.

Ganymede

@surreality said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

I didn't get the impression the cat was quite at that point just yet.

I don't know the cat from Adam, but I can't think of a better way to die than choosing to do so in the arms of a cherished loved one. That said, you're absolutely right -- the vet knows better than I.

surreality

@ganymede Must agree.

I still bawled like I have never ever bawled when we had to let Ancient Cat go -- and it was going to happen within 24-48 hours whether we took her in or not.

It did not help that she kept putting her paws up on my collarbones and trying to hide in my cleavage or in my hair like she did every time we went to the vet (and the first day we spotted her at a pet store; there were grabby children, and when she was randomly handed off to me, she burrowed into my shirt to hide and peek out to see if it was safe or not yet, so there was no not bringing the baby home; dammit, sniffles again... ). This was extra adorkable when she was a full-grown fluffy pudge-butt.

It's a hard moment. A necessary one, but it is hard.

ETA: Apologies if I'm coming off extra mopey or bitchy on this one. Ancient Cat passed due to multiple tumors in her chest (not in areas they would have been visible) that were ultimately crushing her lungs and her heart. Within the past two weeks, a good friend of mine in the hobby went from 'a cough' to... multiple cancerous tumors in his chest that are impacting his lungs and his heart. This has had... some prominence in mind over the holidays.

Auspice

Gonna submit a complaint on this bus operator. Wouldn't let a couple girls on because he'd "already closed the doors." He wasn't even moving because the light was red and he was still at the stop!

I fucking hate some of these drivers.

Derp

@ganymede said in Real World Peeves, Disgruntlement, and Irks.:

my anarchic beliefs.

I find it hilarious beyond words that the majority of people (myself included) who spend their lives learning to interpret and apply the law end up as anarchs of some type.

surreality

Just on the whole:

2016: I'mma kill all your darlings, break your heart, completely demolish your self-esteem, horrify you about the potential future of your country, scrag all manner of shit in your business, and fuck you over six ways to Sunday while the people you care about most betray you in the most hurtful ways possible in a sustained assault on your ability to survive it.

2017: Hold my beer.

2018: ???

Aria

Dear Ladies in My Group Chat --

I love you! I want you to know that. I really, really do.

I also want you to know that when you've reached a point that the chickadee you have legit introduced at parties as "your angry feminist inspiration" is on the verge of #notallmen-ing you, it is perhaps time to slow your roll there. Yes, plenty of times, horrible behavior is the direct result of The Notorious Pa-tri-ar-chy. But not always. No, no. Sometimes, a dude's bad behavior isn't evidence of toxic masculinity producing anti-social behavior at all.

Sometimes, it's just evidence that that dude is a shithead. Lots of people are.

Your sister from another mister,
Aria

dontpanda

@aria I don't tend to make excuses for anyone's bad behaviour. I might try to explain their behaviour, but I offer excuses very, very rarely.

I appreciate that you see a difference between someone being a dickhead, and a systemic issue to be railed against. Not enough people do, I fear. It's letting dickheads get away with being dickheads because they're part of "the system."

surreality

@dontpanda The reverse happens a lot, too. "You just hate me because I'm <discriminated against group>!!!"

No, I think (generic) you are being a jackass because you're behaving like a jackass, and doubly so because you're trying to use 'I am discriminated against in life!' as a shield for crappy behavior that has nothing to do with <reason that person might be actively discriminated against by any reasonable measure>.

dontpanda

@surreality Not getting any argument from me.

Deleted

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3h6es6zh1c

Maybe some people are just assholes.