1 in 6,469,618,166

Apparently, 6,469,618,166 is the number of people currently inhabiting the world according to this site: http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html at the time I checked - give or take the odd tribe.

Out of the hundreds of people I have met, out of thousands of people I have seen, and from my current understanding, out of that 6.5 billion I seem to be the only person on this whole stinking planet that has an issue with walking on plants, flowers and fauna in general.

As an individual I possibly have too much empathy for my own good. I'm vegetarian; I do not wear items of clothing that cost something its life. But this empathy extends to pretty much everything! Well, save for bacteria. It's either them or me and I won't go down without a fight.

Anyway, back to the point in hand.

I can't walk on flowers. The summer is a nightmare. If I’m out with friends and we happen to walk across a patch of grass littered with daisies then I end up tiptoeing around like I’m walking in some kind of minefield. Which gets me a lot of funny looks, but I can't help it, I just feel sorry for the little buggers!

From a rational point of view I understand that it only causes the plant minor damage, but that’s just it... I don't want to cause it any damage!

I know I’ve just made myself a target to every member curious enough to enter this thread, and I expect to get a lot of shit. I'd be surprised, if not a little disappointed if I didn't.

But what I want to know is, am I alone in feeling this way? Am I the only bleeding heart in the world that feels for daisies?????


[Edited on Sep 29, 2005 by Ejit]

Good lord yes.

I go out of my way to avoid sidewalks and walk on the grass. I've always seen it as a way of enjoying the grass; recognizing it by using.

As for flowers? How hard is it not to walk on them? If you don't want to, don't.

Well I'm a dick apparently.

Ambularachibutyrophobia - Fear of walking on flowers.

Flowers?
So you're a superficial hippy.

You feel sorry for... plants?!?

But... you're a vegetarian! YOU EAT THEM! YOU EAT THE POOR DEFENSELESS PLANTS!

I don't like stepping on plants either, but that's because I think they're pretty and don't like fucking them up, not because I have anthropomophized the things.

I had a friend in college who was like that. I got used to forcing myself to walk on sidewalks when she was around and kept doing it by habit after she graduated. I had to consciously make the decision to start walking on the grass again when I noticed that I was avoiding it for no good reason.

I hate it when there's dirt trails through a nice pretty bunch of grass from people walking through it. Use the sidewalks!

I hate when people walk across my yard after it snows. Does that count?

$20 says you don't own a lawn mower

6,469,625,246

7,080 in the last 26 minutes

[Edited on Sep 29, 2005 by cxc496]

Congrats on having the best first comment I've ever seen.

And I mean that literally! You should get a prize

you eat vegetables..they were living once

nuff said.

What's the name of that group of people in India who will not kill any living thing? They wear those masks on their face to prevent accidental inhaling of insects... I forget their name, maybe someone from India can help me out here. That is, if I'm correct in assuming their Indian.

Vague enough?

What about the grass?
So it's ok to save the flowers, but....
KILL THE GRASS!!!!!
Poor, defensless grass.
xo

good god...where do they all live???

awww shit...MrDaft beat me to it oh well

Still will be said......

So you can't walk on plants....but you can eat them?







(this has actually caused quite a moral issue for a friend of mine when I mentioned it......she is a horiculturist (spelling?) and LOVES plants.......she gets quite upset when I tease her )

NewYorkMatt said:

MistakesMade said:
Congrats on having the best first comment I've ever seen.

And I mean that literally! You should get a prize

i was thinking the same thing.

so here is your prize you freakin daisy dodger:

SPOILERS! (Click to view)

it was good, but not quite as good as the guy who masterbated with broken glass in his hand (see SexTalk- "Masturbation gone wrong")

[Edited on Sep 29, 2005 by thorr74]

Jebus, man, your logic is all apart. First, you won't step on flowers, but you EAT VEGETABLES!! Salad shooter. Second of all, think about the sheer magnitude of all the dead plants it takes to feed those tasty, tasty animals.... Every single mammal is a Floral Holocaust! Is plant life worth less than animal life? Apparently unless it's pretty, yes. Plants are ALIVE yo... unless all your possessions are plastic, you're costing life... actually, plastic and metal cost lives too with all their pollution.

Now if you said its more biologically economic to have a vegetarian diet, I'd get behind the logic, BUT plant empathy? The plants will be more than happy to accept the nourishment your corpse provides them, as will the animals that eat those plants. We're all just some other lifeform's fecal matter at some point. Hakuna Matata, hippie!

the Jains. Unfortunately, they also try to care for hurt animals, but animals that are terminally hurt are their pain prolonged by the Jains' good intentions since they don't mercy kill.

[Edited on Sep 29, 2005 by Darke]

damn hippie

I'm surprised. I thought you lot would just point and laugh till your throats were sore.

I was waiting for someone to say that. I know, it's hypocritical but at the end of the day I’ve got to eat something! I can't exist on thin air. If I could, I would. I could quite happily deny my taste buds their pleasure for the sake of my conscience. But I can't, so with the consumption of veggies weighing a hell of a lot less on my mind than meat I’ve chosen vegetarianism as a way of sustaining my life.

It's easy to argue the food chain theory and say it's a fact of life, and I could probably conjure up some belief system that clears my conscience knowing that everything that dies goes to a wonderful happy joy joy sort of place. However, I’m a realist; I believe in what I’ve seen, heard, experienced, etc and for some unknown reason I feel that it's wrong to trample plants

And you're right, Darke. Through any action I take there will be an inevitable loss of life, albeit indirectly. That is why I don't spend too much thought on it. If I did I could spend my entire life obsession over this and that and generally driving my self insane. So I deal with the immediate. Given the option I will try to do what I feel is right, and if that means dancing around some meadow like a loon in the hope being nice then so be it.

As for the Jains. Given your example I think they're acting selfishly by satisfying their beliefs. The problem with belief systems and morals in general, it's quite possible to become blinded by them. I understand what they were trying to do but if I chose to intervene, and as hard as it would be for me, I would act in the best interest of the animal.

There's no competing with that! I may be strange but that guy is a nutter!

$20 says I don't have a lawn