this post was submitted on 27 Jan 2024
422 points (100.0% liked)

Unpopular Opinion

6987 readers
4 users here now

Welcome to the Unpopular Opinion community!


How voting works:

Vote the opposite of the norm.


If you agree that the opinion is unpopular give it an arrow up. If it's something that's widely accepted, give it an arrow down.



Guidelines:

Tag your post, if possible (not required)


  • If your post is a "General" unpopular opinion, start the subject with [GENERAL].
  • If it is a Lemmy-specific unpopular opinion, start it with [LEMMY].


Rules:

1. NO POLITICS


Politics is everywhere. Let's make this about [general] and [lemmy] - specific topics, and keep politics out of it.


2. Be civil.


Disagreements happen, but that doesn’t provide the right to personally attack others. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Please also refrain from gatekeeping others' opinions.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Shitposts and memes are allowed but...


Only until they prove to be a problem. They can and will be removed at moderator discretion.


5. No trolling.


This shouldn't need an explanation. If your post or comment is made just to get a rise with no real value, it will be removed. You do this too often, you will get a vacation to touch grass, away from this community for 1 or more days. Repeat offenses will result in a perma-ban.



Instance-wide rules always apply. https://legal.lemmy.world/tos/

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I subscribe to some pet subs to see cute pictures of cats and dogs to improve my mood and then every tenth post or so is "my poor dead cat". I hate it, I never knew your catdog and now im slightly sad that its dead. Now I have to unsubscribe from all these cute pet subs cause y'all can't not talk about how dead your pets are. Maybe join a support group or something.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 93 points 1 year ago (1 children)

upvoted for having such a stone cold unpopular opinion haha

[–] [email protected] 94 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Do people like seeing those posts?? I'm not so rude to tell people to keep their grieving to themselves, but I'm 100% with OP that they bring down the whole mood when you just wanna look at some cute dogs

[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Yup. I thought OP was spot on and have always felt the same. I view those subs to see animals being cute and be happy about it. I'm sorry for their loss, but that is not cute or happy.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it feels like there's just peer pressure to act like you're fine with it, if you say you don't like it you're a horrible selfish person

but like bro if you come to someone's birthday party and start talking about how your grandpa carked it last week you're going to be asked to leave

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 43 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Start a ghost pets crusade.

"My dead cat came back last night..." and see how it goes.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Haha yeahhh, go all Pet Sematary on em :-)

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

Kitty came back wrong.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 40 points 1 year ago (2 children)

This is why I unsubscribed from r/pics years ago. Too many sob stories. I’m assuming once more migrants make it to lemmy I’ll have to start wedding out the places where sob stories are bound to happen again.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

RIF had a great feature that you could block posts by topic. I added I think it was "Pet Loss" and immediately the problem disappeared.

I really need this feature in lemmy

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I tried that but people don't tag their posts correctly anyways I think it was a grief tag or soemthing Edit oh rif i thought you meant reddit enhancement suite

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago

I support your opinion wholeheartedly. I get why people do it I guess but it just makes others feel sad when they could post the picture and tell the story later in the comments or something.

[–] zipzoopaboop 18 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Fucking fully agree. I feel like shit enough elsewhere without hearing about dead pets in an otherwise feel good place

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There was one directly above this in my feed, so that's a fun coincidence. Ofc my feed is sorted by upvotes so it looks like your opinion is coming in 2nd place to a dead cat.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

The black cat lay down? Yeah I saw that! I didn't click it. I don't want to know about the dead kitty so this was the perfect post to visit.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I despise these posts. The day my cat dies, I pledge to post some sort of post about him, but it won't say he died. It'll be some trash post like "LOOK AT THIS DUDE, HE HAS NO BRAIN CELLS" and it'll be him like, chewing plastic or going goblin mode on a toy.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

So you want to see the pet I care for when it makes you happier, but you can't be bothered to bear the slightest hit to your mood when sharing my grief makes me happier? Yeah, no, I don't think you will be missed. Farewell!

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago

So you want to see the pet I care for when it makes you happier

Yes exactly.

bothered to bear the slightest hit to your mood when sharing my grief makes me happier?

How incredibly selfish.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Well also I tend to lurk in those communities so I 100% would not be missed. But yea you hit the nail on the head.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

Kinda presumptuous to assume strangers should carry your burden let alone want to

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Yeah. It’s not only rude but ugly, really ugly. Someone lost their best friend and may* not have had anywhere else to turn for support but eff them for bringing down my glee. It’s unkind and selfish, at best. Perhaps op could look within for who did what to make that shadow, and how they can befriend it.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Wtf. No one owes you their sadness, and it's beyond selfish to expect others to be upset just because you are. You adopted the pet. It's your responsibility, no one else's.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

That's true for anyone not actively advocating for "share things that make me happy please but keep the sad sides to yourself, will ya?"

That is selfish. I don't expect anyone to be sad with me, but when you feel so bothered by people who want to share their grief between your happy goofy dog pictures that you complain about it, you come off as selfish.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's true for anyone not actively advocating for "share things that make me happy please but keep the sad sides to yourself, will ya?"

Yes, don't post sad shit in communities not designed for that.

That is not selfish.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

That's not how life works. I don't go around in public telling every random stranger about my dead mom and how much I miss her. That's my burden to bear and would be completely inappropriate. The same goes for cute cat subs and there needs to be a rule preventing it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

posting your personal sad stories to an otherwise wholesome, happy community is straight-up tone deaf antisocial shit.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You justify calling people antisocial because you decided that the community in question is wholesome and happy while the dead animal posts are literal proof to the opposite. If the community explicitly said that no sad posts were allowed, you'd be in the right. But a community doesn't have to behave like you want it to just because you want it to, does it?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I am 100% being selfish in this situation. But y'all could also make a community specific for grieving the loss of a pet.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

No and no one owes anyone bitterness, either. Scroll on is the point.

Lemmy has gotten extremely vitriolic. As Sidhartha said, holding resentment is like swallowing poison and expecting the resented to die.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

How do I befriend a dead dog?

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

What's ugly and rude is dropping your dead dog story on a crowd of random strangers that are there just looking for something to brighten up their day. There are plenty of emotional support communities to chose from that are more appropriate for people grieving over loss.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago

Sounds like someone needs to start a c/CatsAliveAndWell.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

My experience exactly, and I never see dead pet posts. I hated it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think it’s more cathartic to post pictures of my departed pets in the present tense. I get to share my little beauties when I'm feeling sentimental, others get a dose of cuteness, and nobody has to think about how short of a time they're with us.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I misinterpreted your comment at first and thought you post pictures of dead cats

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Yikes. I could have phrased that better.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It’s like those cute Youtube videos with adorable pets and the comments are just like “yeah he/she’s dead now RIP”

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It doesn't personally bother me, so long as it remains in the minority of posts. Couple of reasons:

a) It often reminds me of some of the good boys I've lost, and of the good times we had. It's a bit bittersweet, but it doesn't have to be a mood kill. I acknowledge if you've lost a pet very recently, it'll hit a lot harder, but this is going to happen regardless as you process your grief.

b) I'd prefer to be part of a community that's not continually mood-checking each other. Life has ups and downs, and everyone is better off if the community can occasionally offer some consolation in the hard times. Expecting only happiness from everyone always seems like toxic positivity to me.

c) Offering a word of support can make me myself feel better. It can be a good deed for the day, and it'll make me feel closer to the community.

d) I don't think having a bit of a memento mori is necessarily bad. Being reminded that our time with our companions is limited can also remind us to cherish that time all the more.

I do think there's a caveat, though. While loss is an inevitable part of animal companionship, it's very unfair if I only share my grief. If I enjoy the community and want to keep it healthy, then I should be proactive in generally posting uplifting content before I ever consider asking the community for their sympathy.

Also, personally, if I'm going to share a memorial post, I think it'd be best if it can be a celebration of my pet's life, and show how they had a good, and happy one.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I agree. One of my cats died some time ago and every time I see one of those memorial posts it reminds me and I get sad again. I did not subscribe to cat communities to get more sad but to improve my mood.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

I subscribe to chicken subs and not only are there memorial posts but also a lot of gore pics where people are asking whether a gruesome wound/infection can be treated or asking to guess what predator ate half of their chicken. I think this is fine, death is a part of owning pets and shouldn't be shoved under the rug. Ideally there could be a tagging system like others mentioned.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I like the pet memorial posts and I like that we're allowed to post them. Imagine the terrible feeling that to express grief, mourn, and celebrate the life of a cherished innocent with a beautiful photo being against the rules.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Im with you that they’re sad posts for a beastie I never knew. I don’t mind taking a moment “to pour one out for a lost homie that was loved and prolly a great boi” though.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Hate is such a strong word. Does it fill you with uncontrollable rage that you'd want to throw your phone at a wall when you see such posts?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What a weird reaction. First of all, hate is not synonymous with rage. Secondly, it’s extremely common to use the word hate for even mild annoyances. Since I find it unbelievable that you’ve gone your whole life not noticing this, I can only conclude that you’re trying to be annoying.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Annoying is such a strong word. Does it fill you with uncontrollable anger that you'd want to throw your phone at a wall when you see such comments?

load more comments
view more: next ›