I do. And I don't mean just stuffed animals or cars or something. I feel sorry for my old, broken coffee table because I'm going to get rid of it and get a new one once my living situation is straightened out.
If I have to choose between two plates at a store, I feel sorry for the plate I didn't buy.
I feel sorry for inanimate objects that I don't even LIKE. I'm afraid I'm hurting their feelings.
Although they are not inanimate, I am very upset by crawfish boils because as much as I am terrified and repulsed by the things, I don't want anyone to pour them live into boiling water.
Am I the only one who feels this way?
-pH
Posted by aiua (Member # 7825) on :
Not in the least. I have better relationships with the little knickknacks in my room that I do with actual people.
Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
I feel sorry for players I cut on NCAA football. And they're not real in any sense of the word.
Posted by cheiros do ender (Member # 8849) on :
I actually get jealous of the shoes that get to crush cockroaches on my behalf. Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
No, I never feel like that.
Posted by Architraz Warden (Member # 4285) on :
EDIT: Reading is good. I'll look into doing that for the future.
Yes, on occasion I'll feel bad for inanimate objects. Animals (such as crawfish) are something else entirely (and I'll feel bad for them much more often.)
Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
I totally do that, although it's worst with stuffed animals and dolls. I would always buy the most dilapidated, sad-looking stuffed animal at the Salvation Army store. Well, always, that is, until my mom made a rule that I couldn't buy one stuffed animal unless I got rid of another! What was I supposed to do then?
I feel sorry for the baby dresses that stay at Once Upon a Child for months and no one buys them; it makes me want to buy them. Even if I don't like them. I feel sorry for the books I have to throw away because the garage roof leaked and they mildewed (although I don't feel sorry for the mildew!) I cry when I have to get rid of clothes that I love.
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 5938) on :
I felt sorry for my old couch when I had to get rid of it. It was the most dilapidated, broken down couch ever, but I had it through college and my first apartments away from home and we had gone through a lot together. I brought it back to the dorm building that it came from and left it sitting outside one of the back doors, in hopes that some new freshman would see it, say "Hey, free couch!" and take it up to their room.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Xavier (Member # 405) on :
I feel badly for virtual people and animals all the time. You really need to to get the most out of playing video games.
I've occasionally felt sorry for other objects, such as my cars and the like. I usually get over it pretty quickly though .
Posted by dawnmaria (Member # 4142) on :
When I worked for a bookstore, I always felt bad when we did the monthly returns. I felt bad for both the author and the books that got sent back and didn't do well. Once at an antiques show, my Mom bought an old family picture album because she felt bad that no one was left around or wanted to keep it from that family. Oh, and ever since I was a little girl I've always prayed for the animals hit on the side of the road. I know I am weird.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
I occasionally feel bad for innanimate objects. Most of the time however, I apologize to them when I bump into them or knock them off a table. This is especially true when I bump into a wall, which happens more often than I would like to admit.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
I feel sorry for my pet rock. I lost him, I think. I played with him for a couple of days and then put him away...and I don't know where he is now.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
I had a pet cactus when I was twelve.
Michael just gave me a little cactus yeseterday.
Now I need to name it.
Oh, and my dad gave me a little potted evergreen tree for Christmas last year because I really wanted a Christmas tree, and we didn't have time to get one. I put it in my car and drove it all the way back up to New Orleans and kept it and PETTED IT, even.
But it died. I was so sad.
-pH
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
When I was about 9, I had a Major Moral Dilemma. I couldn't decide if food wanted to be eaten or not. Bare in mind here, I wasn't worried about the animals or plants that became the food, but the actual piece of steak, or the crouton. I mean, I certainly wouldn't have wanted to get eaten, but then again, I didn't want to be scraped into the trash either. The garbage disposal just terrified me. It was quite the conundrum, and it seemed like the possible endings for food were all rather hideous, so naturally, I felt terrible for food.
I was saved when one of my parents told me that food's purpose was to be eaten, and that most things are happiest in fulfilling their purpose.
Posted by Dante (Member # 1106) on :
You know, if I were food and my two choices were garbage disposal and being eaten, I would definitely have to choose the former.
Posted by SteveRogers (Member # 7130) on :
If I were food, I would simply get up and run away after the knife and the spoon.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
I don't think its unusual. I talk to my car when it starts making sounds or starts handeling different.
Example:
"Oh come one, don't do this to me. I just took you to the shop a month ago."
Posted by 0range7Penguin (Member # 7337) on :
I rescued my chair. It has been around my whole life and when my mom decided to get rid of it i took it with me when i moved out. Its an 18 year old blue laz-y-boy.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
The first student film I ever made revolved around five shopping carts escaping from a Kroger's supermarket and trying to make it back to their native homeland, the African veldt. Of course, their flight was complicated by bagboys, the authorities, and the fact that two of them had been hobbled.
Posted by Epictetus (Member # 6235) on :
Back when I was still playing trombone regularly, I'd occasionally bang it against something on accident, and out of pure reflex, I'd say "ouch".
This is a very strange thing to say to a trombone, but I suppose in some wierd way I was attempting to take on the pain of the instrument...like the flagelents, in band-nerd form. Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
I do all the time. Mostly objects that I have. For example, my old collection of basketball cards. I always take them out to look at them once in awhile, even if I don't want to, just so they don't get bored. I always make sure to play my first ever bass guitar so it gets attention. I think this started from when I was little and saw Toy Stories and I got scared that if the objects in my room came to life, they wouldn't like me. So I try to give them respect and attention.
Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
I say excuse me when I bump into a chair or a table. I try not to insult my car within hearing distance (no point in taking chances).
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
I love my guitar and try not to bump her too much And most of my electronics have names... I can't even throw away most of my old broken things either. Though I should. Evangeline just doesn't work anymore.
Posted by Advent 115 (Member # 8914) on :
quote:Originally posted by starLisa: I say excuse me when I bump into a chair or a table. I try not to insult my car within hearing distance (no point in taking chances).
I know just what you mean. I never talk to my friends about wanting another truck while in its presence.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
quote: The first student film I ever made revolved around five shopping carts escaping from a Kroger's supermarket and trying to make it back to their native homeland, the African veldt. Of course, their flight was complicated by bagboys, the authorities, and the fact that two of them had been hobbled.
Tom, you're going to have to post that film. I would love to see it. It sounds hilarious!
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Sadly, the only copy I have is on Super8, and it's with my mother down in Florida. This was in the days before digital video.
Perhaps someday I'll get my hands on it again, and will try to transfer it to some real media. *laugh* There's another film about a bunch of existentialist superheroes I'd love to find again, too. (Basically, one guy has a time machine he's afraid to use for fear of altering the timeline too drastically; the girl is perfectly clairvoyant, but constantly unsure whether she's causing the future or just predicting it -- because she's been too scared to ever actually do something she hasn't seen in the future, for fear of destroying the universe; and the other boy is super-strong and nigh-invulnerable, and doesn't understand why the other two never seem to want to do anything.)
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
If you count my roomate as an inanimate object...
Actually still no
Posted by jennabean (Member # 8590) on :
I cried when my Tamagochi pet died for the first time. I was really young, but that's still a little ridiculous!!
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
I had a lot of stuffed animals when i was young, but only one that was my particular favorite, a small brown dog I named after my first real dog, Monsie. Occasionally, though, i'd get pangs of guilt for neglecting the others -- particularly on nights with thunderstorms -- and i'd tuck all of them under the blankets with me (ALL of them) so none would feel left out.
(also,i completely empathize with Toy Story....just reading this thread made me want to rent one of those movies again, so i rented the sequel tonight.)
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
I have two stuffed animals that share my bed now. One is a very, very large (four feet long, I think) stuffed dog named Falkor, and the other is a medium-sized bear named Edgar.
I cuddle them a lot while I sleep, but a lot of times, Falkor ends up falling off the bed.
Poor Falkor.
-pH
Posted by jennabean (Member # 8590) on :
I don't sleep with any stuffed animals anymore but I have a collection of really special ones, like every bunny my mom ever gave me on easter, various Winnie the Pooh bears that my dad gave me, and some others I just can't let go of.
Posted by Evie3217 (Member # 5426) on :
Tom, those movies sound incredible. You have to find them and show them to us some time.
pH, I know how you feel. At home I move around so much in my sleep that I end up kicking all my stuffed animals out of bed. I end up apologizing to them every morning.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
quote:Originally posted by jennabean: I cried when my Tamagochi pet died for the first time. I was really young, but that's still a little ridiculous!!
--Enigmatic
Posted by Leonide (Member # 4157) on :
*cries*
that's awful!
This is the reason i never choose to go evil in any of those role-playing games. I can't stand the guilt.
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
I felt sorry for my crescent wrench when I slipped while tightening the connection on a car battery and shorted it across the terminals.
Posted by littlemissattitude (Member # 4514) on :
I don't know that I necessarily feel sorry for inanimate objects, but I talk to them all the time. I've got a big stuffed alligator named Rosey (I didn't name him, but that's his name) who lives on my bed and protects me from the cold wall at night, and every once in awhile I'll just sit and talk to him for awhile. Heck, he's a better listener than most of the people I know.
I always talk to my car, and I always talk to my computer, especially when the computer persists in doing what I tell it to do and not what I want it to do. Which it is supposed to know, you know?
Posted by Celaeno (Member # 8562) on :
My original response: "Goodness, no. I'm not crazy."
Then I realized that I personify everything, so I definitely feel things for inanimate objects. Maybe I am crazy.
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
I totally feel bad for the animals that are killed on the roads. I want to stop and give them a funeral with flowers and burial and prayers. But then the scavengers wouldn't have any food to eat either, and I'd feel bad for them.
I do tend to have more sympathy for things with actual feelings, but of course stuffed animals count in that group!
Oh but actually, I really truly love my machines I design and start up. They are like children in a way. I want them to find a long, happy, productive life, being well-maintained by people who love and appreciate them. It is painful to me to see good machinery abused. So I guess, yeah, I do that too. <abashed smile>
Posted by Szymon (Member # 7103) on :
Well, I feel sorry for animals, I feel sorry when I see a truckful of pigs or cows, knowing how cruely their killed- they know that they;re dying. But I've never felt sorry for inanimate objects. I think that aint normal, compassion for a plate. Though I never kill innocent people in games, unless its GTA Posted by El JT de Spang (Member # 7742) on :
quote:I felt sorry for my crescent wrench when I slipped while tightening the connection on a car battery and shorted it across the terminals.
I shorted mine from + to the a/c pump. That was an interesting day.
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
Enigmatic, that was horrible. Now I want to hit something.
quote:It was quite the conundrum, and it seemed like the possible endings for food were all rather hideous, so naturally, I felt terrible for food.
I never thought about that. Fascinating.
-----
Edited to add:
aspectre, exactly.
(And I wanna see Tom's films!)
Posted by breyerchic04 (Member # 6423) on :
I collect plastic horses. The kind kids get and play with. So when I go to a flea market and see them I pout when I see one with a broken leg, or that has had the color scratched off of it.
Posted by Maria (Member # 9209) on :
I feel sorry for chess pieces. I don't play any more, because I can't stand for them to get killed.
Posted by pH (Member # 1350) on :
When I went to Norway, I bought like five million of those little Viking statues made of wood and rabbit fur.
They look like little Hagar the Horribles of varying sizes with tiny spears and swords and shields.
I'm so upset that some of them broke. I'm also very upset that I don't have them with me.
-pH
Posted by Nitasmile (Member # 8275) on :
Sometimes I feel bad for trees who stay in one spot their whole life. Of course, as we learn in the Giving Tree, trees do much for us.
When I went to visit my sister in Indiana this week, I learned some Amish people live in their community. While some Amish have drivers, there were occasional buggies. So we were at Target one day and it was raining. In one of the parking spaces was a horse w/a buggy. In all seriousness, I felt bad that the horse was getting wet in the rain. When we finished shopping, the devoted horse was still sitting in the same spot, peacefully awaiting the return of its owner. It might sound dumb, but this made me wish that Target had some sort of "carport" for the horses/buggy of the Amish, so that the horses didn't get wet. I wonder if there is some sort of umbrella for horses. Anyway, I am most definitely NOT a horse person. But somehow seeing that horse just sitting there in the parking space was touching.
Posted by Nitasmile (Member # 8275) on :
By the way, growing up, my dad made up a bedtime story about flour and how it is made. It went along the lines of the poor wheat being beat up and taken from its home, etc. I forget all the details but his story had me and my sister in tears.
Posted by Stan the man (Member # 6249) on :
I never feel sorry for inanimate objects. It hit the wall because I wanted it too. Now if I could use my truck as the inanimate object this would be different. But then I have been told I have emotional issues with my truck.
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
I feel bad for the treads that come off of tires. They just lie there...cast off...immobile...exposed.
And I feel really bad for cars in junk yards.
Posted by Enigmatic (Member # 7785) on :
quote:Originally posted by ClaudiaTherese: Enigmatic, that was horrible. Now I want to hit something.
Well, that's what the discipline button is for.
--Enigmatic
Posted by Nitasmile (Member # 8275) on :
I know everyone is being silly but I really did feel bad for the horse I mentionned previously.
Bob wrote:
"And I feel really bad for cars in junk yards. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------"
That you mention this makes me feel sad now, just the other day I drove by a junkyard w/all the crushed cars stacked up high. What is the story of those cars?? Who were the people that loved them?
I feel sorry for the pounding my computer keys take daily.
I feel sorry for the cookie sheet stuck in a very hot oven- a cookie sheet that doesn't even get to sample the items it helps to create.
I feel sorry for my alarm clock. It tries so hard to perform its role of waking me up promptly. Howver, I always push the snooze button and have never once expressed gratitude to the clock.
I feel sorry for items created in factories that are then packaged and sent to destinations around the world--- and perhaps away from its neighbor on the conveyor belt.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
Now I want to hit something. ![[Cry]](graemlins/cry.gif)
What was I supposed to do then?![[Wink]](wink.gif)
.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
I know just what you mean. I never talk to my friends about wanting another truck while in its presence.