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09/02/2003 Entry: "Excuses, excuses, excuses!"

I am tired of people who always have excuses.

I mean, it's one thing to have tried all options and you are open for more suggestions. That happens in life, and why you ask friends for advice. But closing all options and just whining for sympathy is starting to bore and annoy me. We have people at work like that. I see it in fandom far too many times. Some people get addicted to the "teats of sympathy" (I think my friend Suzi coined that one), and milk it for all it's worth. You know the type: always has a crisis, never takes up any offer to fix it. Here's the type of conversation I am talking about:

Mopey Bill: I am starving.
Perky Punk: Have some food.
Mopey Bill: I can't afford it.
Perky Punk: No, here's some free food.
Mopey Bill: I don't like meat, I am a vegetarian.
Perky Punk: Don't eat the meat.
Mopey Bill: The rest has touched meat.
Perky Punk: Here's $5 for some lunch.
Mopey Bill: I can't get a decent lunch for $5 that doesn't cater to my Kosher Vegan diet.
Perky Punk: Can't you go to the store and get a bag of veggies? Some carrots?
Mopey Bill: I am allergic to carrots.
Perky Punk: Beets?
Mopey Bill: All roots.
Perky Punk: How about cauliflower and broccoli?
Mopey Bill: Gives me gas.
Perky Punk: Surely their salad bar will have some fruit.
Mopey Bill: People sneeze on the salad bar and mix tongs.
Perky Punk: Have you seen a doctor about your allergies?
Mopey Bill: I can't afford to.
Perky Punk: Don't you have health care?
Mopey Bill: I don't have a job.
Perky Punk: Why not?
Mopey Bill: Market is bad.
Perky Punk: Where did you last apply?
Mopey Bill: I don't know.
Perky Punk: Are you actively looking for work?
Mopey Bill: The man is bringing me down.
Perky Punk: Maybe if you cut your hair, died it a normal color, and took out some of your piercings. Oh, and bathed. Did you wear a suit to the interview?
Mopey Bill: I'll never sell out!
Perky Punk: So what will you do for money?
Mopey Bill: I dunno. Art, I guess.
Perky Punk: What did you last sell?
Mopey Bill: I can't afford paint. Or a canvas.
Perky Punk: How about find out if some local artists have some extras.
Mopey Bill: All the artists here are snobs.
Perky Punk: Surely not all of them?
Mopey Bill: Might as well be.
Perky Punk: Have you thought about talking to a therapist?
Mopey Bill: They never help.
Perky Punk: Maybe you need to move out of your parent's house?
Mopey Bill: I can't afford it.
Perky Punk: Maybe your parents can work out a deal with you.
Mopey Bill: Why bother? The world sucks. Why must I be alonnne??

You know what Bill? I don't feel sorry for you. While Bill is a fictional character here, he represents conversations I have with psychodramatic people from time to time. They don't want a solution, they just want the sympathy. And why not? Many of these cases have gotten along just fine with limping along through life. I don't really approve of such behavior, unless their benefactors don't mind, and then it's filed under, "Whatever floats your boat." But I'll never enable these people. Time is too short to waste answers on those who don't want them.

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