General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Surrounded by 8 pit pulls today, I barely escaped with my life [View all]OwnedByCats
(805 posts)I wasn't born yesterday, although I'm now at the age where I really wish I had been.
Do you know how many times I've tried (and I know I'm not alone on this one) being reasonable about this, only to be run roughshod over by comments like the one hurled at pit bull owners earlier in this thread. Instead of talking about it like rational adults, people need to draw conclusions on people they don't even know such as they are trash, anti-social and must be "compensating" for something. Come on. The worst I've ever said to someone who disagrees with me is I might call them ignorant (rather than stupid)and say that their "comments" were bigoted (not that they are bigots themselves). I don't make judgements on their character. I've never threatened anyone with violence - might be a bit complicated, since I don't have any clue of their real name and location, and really am not a violent person. I've never been punched or punched someone else in the face. In case you haven't noticed, you can participate in these threads but no matter what, those anti pit bull individuals won't even go and volunteer at a pit bull rescue, or get to know any pit bulls. They won't even do the indepedent research because any source that does not railroad the dogs into being evil killers is not to be trusted. They just read the same old regurgitated misinformation and think they are an authority. They choose to be spoon fed. They hear "pit bull" and the extenuating circumstances mean absolutely nothing. Some Americans get taken in by the media telling them what to be afraid of. Most of these people don't know anywhere near as much as they should about this breed of dog who is largely misunderstood.
In real life, I don't get that kind of treatment. I have no problem discussing this with people who know me and at least can see where I'm coming from since I happen to work with dogs and have met many many lovely pit bulls in my work.
However on a message board, people get brave and cocky and don't care what they say because they're sitting behind a computer screen. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt that in real life, they deal with conflict in a much more diplomatic way.
Now I know you were trying to make a point, that people should handle these things differently. I agree with you. I just felt like you wanted to correct one person's behavior, but the instigator is ok to say what they want. I think you just meant that it's preferable to be the bigger person and handle it with more grace when trying to promote your passion, or have I got that wrong?