[yorkie2luv]

Originally Posted by lulumom

in a perfect world, even the most vulnerable or lonely person would not be put off by the "impolite" or "harsh" words of total strangers in an on-line forum. a perfect world this is not.

as for respect...anyone who comes here, goes to the effort of registering and asking a question has already more than earned themselves at least the amount of reciprocal respect found in a kind, accusation-free response.

to put the responsibility on a new person, often in a crisis with their baby, for being mindful that some are harsher than others, that they shouldn't take on-line insults personally etc.. sounds an awful lot like justification to me. it's like the junior high school bully who chooses the smallest kid in sight to pick on and then says it's their fault for being such a wuss. aye yie yie...

why not simply be kind?

recently, a woman came here holding a dying baby in her arms. i have been waiting for her to come back as it was clear to me she was hurting profusely, had no family nearby, had no friends, and no money. she posted, sharing her pain with people she "knew" would understand and yet...as it turns out, she was slammed, questioned, given the third degree. some of the responses went as follows: why didn't she go to the vet sooner? why didn't she pawn her household possessions? maybe she'd racked up vet bills all over her state and that's why nobody would help her!

i was stunned. i still worry about that woman to this day.

here's the thing. in that hour, at that moment....it was really none of our business what her life was like or what her decisions had been. we are not here to be god's online presence. she owed us no explanation. her baby was dying! she came for comfort and has not come back. surely no one here considers that a positive outcome. surely no one here, in a terrifying situation, has thick enough skin to take the responses given that lady as anything other than the attack they were.

kindness or lack thereof tells a great deal about character.

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I'm speechless. Well put...