They’re so confusing though😭 If I give them love and attention, they get root rot from overwatering. If I ignore them they’re happy half the time or they die without any warning! What do they want😭
a soil moisture meter
If you’re going to shame them, nobody will want to bring you their neglected plants.
I’m an animal lover who has only worked retail for the last 8 years… I can kind of understand why they’d want to shame them. Because first there’s the obvious:
A) You should not have adopted a
petliving being if you weren’t absolutely sure you could ensure it’s well-being along the way. (btw I’m realizing the analogy between plant and animal is only so perfect)And B) Now they have to deal with it. Not only that, but they know that the person returning that living being knows that they’re perpetuating a very dark problem in our society.
I’ve never worked with animals professionally, but I do have very strong feelings on the matter… I think recognizing that they fucked up and still bringing the living being to someone who can take care of them is commendable, but they still deserve to be shamed. Because while it will extend their life and give them another chance to have a life, they still catastrophically failed that being in a way that’s just sad, and there’s no way around that.
I had to take some birds to a rescue years ago. I’m incredibly thnkful that lady was doing what she was doing.
I did not choose to adopt/purchase them. My mother did, then did nothing with them for years, then she died and I ended up with a pair of 7-ish-year-old unhandleable conures. Screamy birds. I get headaches daily, migraines weekly.
I cared for them for several years, got them sort of handleable, but I couldn’t deal with them for another 25 years.
That isn’t unique, people inherit animals all the time that they didn’t plan for, or their life situation changes drastically. Be careful with that shaming. People who don’t deserve it will catch strays (bullets, not pets)
I think the analogy of animal and plant is exactly what the comic was evoking. I think the problem with shaming is that people may decide to not bring their animal here because they don’t want to be shamed, which ends up being worse for the animal. So if the store truly cares about the well being of the animal (or plant), they shouldn’t shame so it encourages people to do the right thing.
Since editing crashes my client after the last update:
I know I’m giving a very serious reply to what was probably a joke comment, but I have a lot of feelings on this topic and needed an excuse to get them out lol.
I respect that you’re very passionate about animal welfare. So this is not a critique. Surrendering an animal out of pure convenience is extremely shitty and the people that do that deserve judgement.
That said:
Sometimes, shit happens. An animal you’ve loved and cared for deeply is no longer going to receive the same care, or is in an unsafe environment for whatever reason. Maybe there’s an unexpected health issue. Maybe work suddenly requires a lot more travel. Maybe a newborn has come and the animal and the baby can’t coexist, either due to allergies or temperament.
I’m not saying every surrendered animal is a legit sob story, but many of them will be.
If they didn’t want to be neglected maybe they shouldn’t be so god damn passive and needy
This is why I prefer pets, and babysitting kiddos - they tell me exactly what they need/want and when they want it 😆
I wish the bastards would tell me what they want.
“water… Please… Just water…”
“Fucking asshole plant WHAT DO YOU NEED???”
“wa… ter…”
proceeds to die from too much water :(
I’ve always wanted enough space to have a medium sized greenhouse.
I had the thought the other day that it would be kind of interesting to open part of the space to locals to drop off their plants for day care. Going on a trip? Just swing by and put the plant in the spots for the right watering schedule and pick it up when you come back.
It would also have a section for plant swaps, for plants people forgot that others could just take home.
Excellent idea. We finally got rid of our plants because it was a lot of trouble finding homes for them every time we went away.
If you do I’ve got a shamrock plant or two I’ll donate to the swap section. I’ve got multiple because relatives keep asking me to revive theirs and never wanting them back.
My favorite part about reviving shamrocks is the “what did you do?”
Which is always: I just fucken watered it, these things won’t die. How did you manage to kill it?
Oh this was even easier, they actually watered it mostly okay they just had it in a room where they almost never opened the curtains so it got less sun than a bat. Couple days in the sun and that thing shot up so many new growths with zero effort.
At least one leaf survived.
