Another day, Another problem, Another observers opinion
Posted by Baron Greenback [38.31.122.92 - ip92.denver13.co.pub-ip.psi.net] on 08 March 2001 at 23.14.45:
In Reply to: I DO Still Have A Voice... posted by Red on 07 March 2001 at 19.47.52:
Well, there are some times when I wish I hadn't done something. Coming to this board today was one of them. Anyway, thought I might throw my two bits in while I still have two bits to throw in. (And completely unrelated word to the wise, never try to download microsoft's SDK for DirectX. Not that it isn't worth it, its just that Im at meg 120 right now and can't tell what time of day, night, or ragnarock it is... oh wait it says here 15:31... of course I had a power outage... anyway enough with my decaffinated and tobacco free ramblings). First of all, here's what I've been able to peice together. If any or all of this is wrong, please send me a pack of camel wides along with any corrections you may have (yeah, I stopped using menthols. My lungs don't need any more corners). Here goes. Red is sitting down and dying chaos's feet again. What Red doesn't realize is that the dye she's using this time was made for an animal that is, more than 50% of the time, smart enough not to ingest the product. She then washes the excess dye off and goes on a bike ride, after which someone else in the house realizes that the human hair dye could be toxic to the cat and runs the cat to the vet, where Swyndle pays for treatment. After everyone else has returned, Red returns from her bikeride and is informed that she did something dumb. An argument ensues, and Red decides to stay at a friends house. Since then, the powers that be have decided that Chaos is to remain at Charon's house until the sattelite dish comes off of Chaos's house, and then chaos is to live with swyndle. This all is, of course, speculation; here, for all to marvel at, is all my first hand information: Charon and Red aren't at the show on saturday. Charon shows up later to help move a stage that would make excelent kindling in my humble opinion, and later on I see chaos wandering around with a sattelite dish on her head. So if anything here offends anyone, let me assure you all that I am chock full of shit and should never, under any circumstances, be taken seriously. However, if I decide to jury rig something because I'm missing a part to my rotosaw, that SHOULD be taken seriously. Just to clear up any confusion. Anyway, based on the information above, I think Red's crime was simply one of ignorance (or criminal negligence, depending on what side you're on if there are sides to be on), not one of malicious intent. Basically, I think Red just thought that Chaos would look somehow cooler (although with examples like pink poodle... ah well Im not going to be insulting here) if her feet were dyed. And since the hair dye was approved for human usage, she figured that it was safe to use on chaos as well. From her post, I can surmise that Red is not a zoologist, nor a practicioner of veterinary medicine, nor an authority on felines in general. So it doesn't cross Red's mind that a dye approved for humans weighing multiple dozens of pounds would not be safe for a feline weighing a few pounds, or that chaos is likely to ingest the dye, or at least that something approved for topical use on a human would be likely to hurt the interior of an animal, as it has been approved and is therefore not likely to be toxic by this reasoning. When she sees an excess on the animals foot, she uses a shampoo approved for young humans. Again, the same reasoning is applied. The animal is then taken to a Vet, whose reaction to the peculiarity of dying her feet has been described by 3/4 people surveyed as a rude yet understandable one, who then decides that it is medically neccesary to give the cat better reception and keep it from licking itself at the same time. This doctor IS a practicioner of veterinary medicine, and is therefore an authority on the subject. In other words, if the vet did this it would not have been a dumb mistake, but malicous cruelty to animals. The vetrinary doctor decided that the mistake was likely to occur again, and has since placed chaos in the care of swyndle, who shelled the money out for the cat's treatment. Anyway, what it boils down to IMO is just that Red is every bit as guilty as a DUI, a person applying CPR before the paremedics arrive when they've only seen it done on TV before, or the urban legend about the person who threw their (ironically) poodle in the microwave to dry it off. In other words, it was a dumb thing to do, but as long as Red realizes this, the education should keep this from becoming a repeat occurence. I firmly believe that, despite everything flying around, Red has the capacity to learn. And things like this tend to get learned quickly. (unless you're me, in which case you do stuff repeatedly that is likely to get everyone around you killed... although power tools, and not hairdye, are more likely to be involved in my case. No, im not insane, just misunderstood. Got that line down pact). What I think needs to happen (again, let me remind all those ready and willing to take offense that I am full of Grade A Pasteurized 100% Pure Premium Florida Quality Bullshit) is simple: everyone lets the issue die. Red appologizes for hurting chaos unintentionally, and is not so defensive, and everyone stops reacting and posting on it, and everyone basically moves on with their lives, rather than reenacting an MTV reality show. Quickly, before puck moves in. It would be nice to have to have both Charon and Red back with CEI when everything else is taken care of.
Matt Wright and DBasics Software Company