I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent, tolerant, and open minded. I have had many people tell me I'm unique in that I don't judge people by colour, gender, or sexual orientation. I don't know how or why I have that mindset because my parents certainly had their share of prejudices. But there are certain things I don't understand, no matter how hard I try, concerning how people act and react when it comes to sexual concepts.
I have several friends who belong to the LGBT community. I know 5 transgendered people, two of whom I met before they transitioned, two I met after they had transitioned, and one that was in the process when we first met. The two who transitioned after I met them I hadn't know for too long so it was easy enough to switch gender labels when referring to or talking with them. The one in the process simply made it easier because I went with that person's preferred goal.
The two who had already transitioned were the ones who confused me. I wouldn't have known they were transgendered if they hadn't told me. As far as I was concerned they were the guy and the gal I met and I would have assumed were always those genders. I didn't see any reason for them to tell me.
That's what confuses me is the need, one might almost say desperate need, of LGBT people to tell everyone they meet that they are LGBT. Are they trying to find out immediately who is prejudiced so they know who to avoid? Are they so defined by their sexual orientation that they have to get that label out there immediately? I don't define my friends by their orientations any more than I would their political affiliations although there are people who also thrust their political affiliations right into the faces of people they have just met.
Myself, I like introductions to be "Hi. I'm ________. Nice to meet you." not "Hi, I'm ________, I'm gay/bi/transgend." or "Hi, I'm __________. I'm a Liberal/Conservative/PQ/Green Party?Democrat/Republican." I don't know about other people but by skipping the pleasantries and jumping straight into personal facts you tell me a couple of things you might not have intended to say.
First, you're insecure/nervous/scared/proud/aggressively defensive about whatever you just told me. Your tone of voice and body language will tell me which of those adjectives applies. Second, you either are expecting to be rejected or want a fight over the issue. Third, you have no concept of personal space and the idea of getting to know someone and setting up a good first impression.
The idea that some things should be kept private is not part of the current culture. Or sure people will sometimes precede a post with "Might be TMI" or "TMI" but usually they will just say whatever they want and not seem to care about whether or not people want to read or hear about it. Then they wonder why people get upset.
For me, the fun in meeting new people is getting to know them. To be able to sit and have a conversation where I don't know what answers I'll get to my questions and what stories I will get to hear. Will I learn something new from this person? Can we be friends? Is this the start of a long friendship or a brief passing of two souls? Will I walk away from this meeting with the knowledge that I have another person to share my world with?
Getting to know someone is like a dance. You start slowly and build up. You exchange pleasantries and cautiously move into more complicated steps (subjects being discussed). You don't jump in and land on the other person's toes by throwing personal facts in immediately.
I understand there's some need in people to put forth their sexual orientation. After all we are sexual animals. Our genetic imperatives are survive and reproduce so we are always assessing everyone we meet as potential mate, potential rival, or non-threat. Sex is a very natural part of who we are. In the immortal words of Gil Grissom "The only thing unnatural about sex is not having it.." Although there are some truly asexual people out there but they are like albinos - naturally occurring but not a typical representation of the species.
So one could say the need to declare oneself as LGBT is a way of determining if the person you feel is a potential mate is of the same persuasion is a valid argument IF the declarations were made primarily to the people one is attracted to. But when you are telling a person of the opposing gender this fact, are you trying to tell they that you aren't available as a potential mate? Because hat's the only reason I see that would make sense. But the people I ask don't know why they tell people their orientation immediately. They think they do but their body language isn't agreeing with their answers.
So maybe I'm closer to the truth. Maybe it is something associated with being LGBT that makes people put their orientation out there immediately to clear the air about whether or not they are available as a potential mate and find out if any potential mates are around. After all, if heterosexual is the "normal" state then it will be assumed by both parties that the other person is exactly what they seem to be.
Then too, there is the perception people have that they have to meet certain standards to be considered whatever gender and orientation they are. Transgendered people in particular seem to feel they have to meet exaggerated standards of genders to be considered a "true" male or female. So a guy has to be a more "manly man" than a natural born male and a girl has to be more "girly girl" than natural born females.
Which is foolish. By letting other people dictate the standards that allow them to feel you are male or female you're empowering their prejudice. If you think you are a particular gender and act the way you feel is natural for yourself then you are whatever gender you claim to be. Standards change when enough people support the changes. By supporting the attitude that whatever a person does is fine for them and that there are no gender-specific actions we can change society's standards on what defines a male and a female and allow their roles to expand as they should to encompass every role as possible.
By letting people's prejudice define your actions you empower the prejudice not tolerance and certainly not yourself. Tolerance is harder to spread than prejudice but once it takes hold it makes sweeping changes in attitudes. Only by encouraging and spreading tolerance can we ever be in a world where people don't define themselves by their orientations, colour, gender, and any other condition we can find to judge people. Instead we'll be in a world where everyone introduces themselves with "Hi. I'm ________. Nice to meet you."
Friday, June 20, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
Fighting Cancer
There are a lot of hard things to deal with when fighting cancer. There's the treatments, surgeries, medicines, pain, concern of loved ones, struggling to eat healthy and exercise, and dealing with mortality.
But the hardest part is keeping your morale up.
Especially since you often need to keep the morale of the people who love you up as well.
Finding out you have cancer is like someone suddenly telling you that everything good in the world has been taken away. Your first thoughts are denial (not me!) followed by disbelief (it's a mistake) followed slowly by acceptance (I do have it) and then the struggle begins.
It's hard enough to find good news but when you are facing the fact that you have a disease that will kill you, unless it's one of the treatable cancers, or not if it's survivable it seems you hear even more about the people who don't survive or hear horror stories about people in so much pain they want to die. Let's face it, people like to share news of events so when loved ones die they post about it. They don't always post about the good milestones - being cancer free for 5 years or however many years it's been - unless it relates to themselves. So it's easy to hear all the negative stories and not hear about the good ones.
But even harder to deal with, is the attitude of our loved ones. We need to think of ourselves as strong, as capable of fighting this disease, of making it through the treatments, and to be as healthy as we can be. So having people tell us or treat us as if we are helpless and fragile doesn't help us. Even when we are weak and throwing up everything and don't have the strength to lift anything or the stamina to move around much, don't tell us how weak and sick we are! Help us find something to smile or even laugh at. Reassure us that tomorrow we'll be feeling better. Express faith that we'll get through this and be better and stronger for it.
I have an extremely rare cancer. I can't do the chemo or radiation therapies because they don't work on this cancer. I don't need to take any medicine because there isn't any pain and won't be until the end. Mostly what it does is make me look overweight and the surgery has taken away part of my stamina and my immune system is compromised. As the cancer grows it has several effects. It is a weight bearing me down. It eats away at my stamina so I tire easily. Bending over makes me feel nauseous. So I become restricted in what i can do and require more assistance. I will be going for another major surgery and hoping not to lose any more internal organs and that I can recover with more stamina than I currently have. I got back most of my stamina after the last surgery so hope to repeat that.
Right now though, I need more help than normal doing things. My husband and daughter are more than willing to help. All I have to do is ask. So I ask. They know how much my independence means to me so they don't make a fuss about it. My mother-in-law and one of my best friends get upset when I mention needing more help because they think I shouldn't be doing anything, that everything should be done for me because I'm sick. They don't understand how demoralizing that attitude is.
If you treat a person like they are helpless and they let it do it, they become helpless. If you treat them like everyone else, they prove themselves more capable than they thought. Cancer can be beaten and has been beaten. Even the terminal ones can be beaten back for a while. But the mental state, the morale, of the person fighting cancer makes the difference.
Eventually, everyone dies. We're mortal. That is our fate. How we die and when we die isn't always within our control. How we face death, that is within our control. Cancer patients learn to face mortality and decide how we are going to face death. Some people give up. Some people never have time to get out of the denial stage. Most of us face it with humour, strength, love, and a determination to live as long as we can.
Which means we fight to keep our morale high and rely on our loved ones to help us even as we help them keep their morale high. In the end, that's what matters. Helping one another.
But the hardest part is keeping your morale up.
Especially since you often need to keep the morale of the people who love you up as well.
Finding out you have cancer is like someone suddenly telling you that everything good in the world has been taken away. Your first thoughts are denial (not me!) followed by disbelief (it's a mistake) followed slowly by acceptance (I do have it) and then the struggle begins.
It's hard enough to find good news but when you are facing the fact that you have a disease that will kill you, unless it's one of the treatable cancers, or not if it's survivable it seems you hear even more about the people who don't survive or hear horror stories about people in so much pain they want to die. Let's face it, people like to share news of events so when loved ones die they post about it. They don't always post about the good milestones - being cancer free for 5 years or however many years it's been - unless it relates to themselves. So it's easy to hear all the negative stories and not hear about the good ones.
But even harder to deal with, is the attitude of our loved ones. We need to think of ourselves as strong, as capable of fighting this disease, of making it through the treatments, and to be as healthy as we can be. So having people tell us or treat us as if we are helpless and fragile doesn't help us. Even when we are weak and throwing up everything and don't have the strength to lift anything or the stamina to move around much, don't tell us how weak and sick we are! Help us find something to smile or even laugh at. Reassure us that tomorrow we'll be feeling better. Express faith that we'll get through this and be better and stronger for it.
I have an extremely rare cancer. I can't do the chemo or radiation therapies because they don't work on this cancer. I don't need to take any medicine because there isn't any pain and won't be until the end. Mostly what it does is make me look overweight and the surgery has taken away part of my stamina and my immune system is compromised. As the cancer grows it has several effects. It is a weight bearing me down. It eats away at my stamina so I tire easily. Bending over makes me feel nauseous. So I become restricted in what i can do and require more assistance. I will be going for another major surgery and hoping not to lose any more internal organs and that I can recover with more stamina than I currently have. I got back most of my stamina after the last surgery so hope to repeat that.
Right now though, I need more help than normal doing things. My husband and daughter are more than willing to help. All I have to do is ask. So I ask. They know how much my independence means to me so they don't make a fuss about it. My mother-in-law and one of my best friends get upset when I mention needing more help because they think I shouldn't be doing anything, that everything should be done for me because I'm sick. They don't understand how demoralizing that attitude is.
If you treat a person like they are helpless and they let it do it, they become helpless. If you treat them like everyone else, they prove themselves more capable than they thought. Cancer can be beaten and has been beaten. Even the terminal ones can be beaten back for a while. But the mental state, the morale, of the person fighting cancer makes the difference.
Eventually, everyone dies. We're mortal. That is our fate. How we die and when we die isn't always within our control. How we face death, that is within our control. Cancer patients learn to face mortality and decide how we are going to face death. Some people give up. Some people never have time to get out of the denial stage. Most of us face it with humour, strength, love, and a determination to live as long as we can.
Which means we fight to keep our morale high and rely on our loved ones to help us even as we help them keep their morale high. In the end, that's what matters. Helping one another.
Monday, June 9, 2014
Reactions
June 4, 2014, Wednesday evening, a little past 7 PM AST, a 24-year-old man walked out of his home dressed in camouflage and carrying a couple of guns and a bow. He walked down the street of his neighbourhood knowing someone would call the police because there are a lot of kids in that area. Then he waited for the police to respond and walked up behind the first one and shot him. He then shot the two officers responding as back up and the two officers following them. Of the 5 officers, 3 died instantly or before help could get to them. Then the young man walked away and a massive manhunt started.
The area was bound by woods on one side and residential streets on the others. the wooded area had a ravine that cut through it and a high fence that followed the ravine. So the police barricaded along the ravine, down the main streets bordering the area in a large triangular shape and locked down the area. Residents were asked to stay inside and make sure their doors were locked.
By Thursday morning, all schools were closed, all businesses in the area closed, and the city buses were kept off the streets. Any cars trying to leave the zone were searched and no vehicles were allowed in. The gunman was spotted a few times walking across back yards or along side streets and his location reported to the police. Police came in from other areas to help search. The public was asked not to post the locations of police cars and searchers because the gunman was watching social media.
Moncton is a city of about 140, 000 people and the police force is a bit over 200 members. It took almost 200 police officers to man the barricades so the additional help was badly needed. Prince Edward Island, the smallest of Canada's provinces, sent 5 officers which sounds like it isn't much until you realize the entire province has about 25 officers in total. Officers came in from the nearest big cities - Fredericton, Saint John, and Halifax. In total, 300 officers manned the barricades and searched the locked down zone. The zone encompassed 4 residential subdivisions so it wasn't a small area.
I live in that locked down zone. I had not been listening to the radio so wasn't aware of what was happening Wednesday night. Thursday morning I found out, like many of my neighbours, from someone calling to make sure I was all right. My daughter had heard the news but both I and my husband were passed out when she came out of her room to tell us. So she made sure our door was locked and stayed up for a while keeping an eye on the various sites, twitter feeds and news updates.
For most of the people in the locked down zone, the close to thirty hours between the shootings and the time when he gave himself up were terrifying. Moncton is just about the last place I would have ever expected something like this to happen. The people who saw the shootings and the people who had small kids to worry about were traumatized and are in need of counselling help. A lot of people are wondering how secure our city is and are obviously shaken by the experience. But they will recover and eventually it will fade into the background. The families and friends of the slain officers will never forget and will have this be part of their lives forever.
We lived in Toronto and in Dartmouth, part of the Halifax Municipality. We had shootings occur anywhere from one street to three streets close by and various locations in both cities. When we were in Toronto, the mall across the street from where I worked had a store robbed and shots fired while I was at work one day. We lived on the only neutral street between two gangs, although the gangs didn't fight one another. In Dartmouth, one of the worst areas in town was separated from us by one street and a fence. It had cleaned up a lot before we moved but there were plenty of robberies and knife attacks and the occasional shooting during the twelve years we lived there.
For us, being in a locked down zone was unique but mostly it was an inconvenience. We had plans for the day and weren't able to get out. We spent the day waiting to hear if they had caught the guy. Hubby and I went to bed hoping they'd catch him so we could get out the next day. We needed groceries and he had presentations he was supposed to get done. Our daughter stayed up so she heard when they caught him a little after midnight. We found out when I got up with the cats. Life, for us, was back to normal.
My city is still returning to normal. Outwardly, it looks like everything is back to normal. Buses are running, schools are open although they had been closed Friday along with all government offices. Businesses are open. But there are signs of differences. The police are much more visible and you don't see just one car at a time any more. People are walking up to officers and hugging them. The area in front of the RCMP office is covered with small gifts of flowers, teddy bears, candles, etc in memory of the fallen officers. Churches and community centres are open for counselling and comfort. Announcements are frequent on the radio about the donation website for the families and about the funereal service to be held tomorrow.
At least they stopped the "Moncton is strong and will survive" announcement in a voice of doom. Honestly, the voice was so deep it sounded more like doom than something to encourage and support people. I think it was making the situation worse rather than helping but that's my opinion.
For all the fact that Moncton is a small city in size, in outlook and attitude it is a small town. Very few things are open past 9 PM (which is better than the 6 PM shutdown it had 15 years ago) and the bus service stops between 9 and 10 PM, depending on the route. This despite the fact that several companies have people working stock overnight and their shifts start at 11 PM or midnight. The first buses start running around 6:45 AM and some people need to be at work by 7 AM or even earlier. But that's the public transit service and another subject.
As I was saying, there is a small town attitude and mentality here. So this comes as even more of a shock than it would in a larger city. The fact that the signs were there and ignored are a matter of concern and I can foresee a lot of scrutinizing occurring in the next few weeks.
Despite people saying they won't let this change their lives and that Moncton will keep it's community spirit, I know from my own experiences there will be changes. Whether or not they are good changes will be seen. As far as I;m concerned, there won't be any changes. I'm already back to leaving my door unlocked. The crime rate here isn't high enough for me to worry yet. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on my city.
The area was bound by woods on one side and residential streets on the others. the wooded area had a ravine that cut through it and a high fence that followed the ravine. So the police barricaded along the ravine, down the main streets bordering the area in a large triangular shape and locked down the area. Residents were asked to stay inside and make sure their doors were locked.
By Thursday morning, all schools were closed, all businesses in the area closed, and the city buses were kept off the streets. Any cars trying to leave the zone were searched and no vehicles were allowed in. The gunman was spotted a few times walking across back yards or along side streets and his location reported to the police. Police came in from other areas to help search. The public was asked not to post the locations of police cars and searchers because the gunman was watching social media.
Moncton is a city of about 140, 000 people and the police force is a bit over 200 members. It took almost 200 police officers to man the barricades so the additional help was badly needed. Prince Edward Island, the smallest of Canada's provinces, sent 5 officers which sounds like it isn't much until you realize the entire province has about 25 officers in total. Officers came in from the nearest big cities - Fredericton, Saint John, and Halifax. In total, 300 officers manned the barricades and searched the locked down zone. The zone encompassed 4 residential subdivisions so it wasn't a small area.
I live in that locked down zone. I had not been listening to the radio so wasn't aware of what was happening Wednesday night. Thursday morning I found out, like many of my neighbours, from someone calling to make sure I was all right. My daughter had heard the news but both I and my husband were passed out when she came out of her room to tell us. So she made sure our door was locked and stayed up for a while keeping an eye on the various sites, twitter feeds and news updates.
For most of the people in the locked down zone, the close to thirty hours between the shootings and the time when he gave himself up were terrifying. Moncton is just about the last place I would have ever expected something like this to happen. The people who saw the shootings and the people who had small kids to worry about were traumatized and are in need of counselling help. A lot of people are wondering how secure our city is and are obviously shaken by the experience. But they will recover and eventually it will fade into the background. The families and friends of the slain officers will never forget and will have this be part of their lives forever.
We lived in Toronto and in Dartmouth, part of the Halifax Municipality. We had shootings occur anywhere from one street to three streets close by and various locations in both cities. When we were in Toronto, the mall across the street from where I worked had a store robbed and shots fired while I was at work one day. We lived on the only neutral street between two gangs, although the gangs didn't fight one another. In Dartmouth, one of the worst areas in town was separated from us by one street and a fence. It had cleaned up a lot before we moved but there were plenty of robberies and knife attacks and the occasional shooting during the twelve years we lived there.
For us, being in a locked down zone was unique but mostly it was an inconvenience. We had plans for the day and weren't able to get out. We spent the day waiting to hear if they had caught the guy. Hubby and I went to bed hoping they'd catch him so we could get out the next day. We needed groceries and he had presentations he was supposed to get done. Our daughter stayed up so she heard when they caught him a little after midnight. We found out when I got up with the cats. Life, for us, was back to normal.
My city is still returning to normal. Outwardly, it looks like everything is back to normal. Buses are running, schools are open although they had been closed Friday along with all government offices. Businesses are open. But there are signs of differences. The police are much more visible and you don't see just one car at a time any more. People are walking up to officers and hugging them. The area in front of the RCMP office is covered with small gifts of flowers, teddy bears, candles, etc in memory of the fallen officers. Churches and community centres are open for counselling and comfort. Announcements are frequent on the radio about the donation website for the families and about the funereal service to be held tomorrow.
At least they stopped the "Moncton is strong and will survive" announcement in a voice of doom. Honestly, the voice was so deep it sounded more like doom than something to encourage and support people. I think it was making the situation worse rather than helping but that's my opinion.
For all the fact that Moncton is a small city in size, in outlook and attitude it is a small town. Very few things are open past 9 PM (which is better than the 6 PM shutdown it had 15 years ago) and the bus service stops between 9 and 10 PM, depending on the route. This despite the fact that several companies have people working stock overnight and their shifts start at 11 PM or midnight. The first buses start running around 6:45 AM and some people need to be at work by 7 AM or even earlier. But that's the public transit service and another subject.
As I was saying, there is a small town attitude and mentality here. So this comes as even more of a shock than it would in a larger city. The fact that the signs were there and ignored are a matter of concern and I can foresee a lot of scrutinizing occurring in the next few weeks.
Despite people saying they won't let this change their lives and that Moncton will keep it's community spirit, I know from my own experiences there will be changes. Whether or not they are good changes will be seen. As far as I;m concerned, there won't be any changes. I'm already back to leaving my door unlocked. The crime rate here isn't high enough for me to worry yet. In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on my city.
Monday, June 2, 2014
Audience Expectations
In which audience refers to readers.
As I've mentioned, I have a list of comics that I go through every day. Some are daily comics, some weekly. I know which ones are which obviously so check only when I know they are supposed to update. Several of the comics run single strip or a small series of related strips. But some of the ones I follow involve complicated ongoing plots so the stories can take several weeks or months to complete an arc and often refer to events already gone by.
Since I write I know that sometimes to tell a story properly you need to do things to the characters that the audience doesn't like. Also, you sometimes throw in the side plots or red herrings to show more of the world you've created and placed out there for the readers to enjoy. Which also means that sometimes things become predictable for any reader who is well read.
One of the comics I read is currently in the slower part of the story line and revealing things that many of us saw coming. One advantage (or disadvantage depending on your viewpoint) for comic artist/writers is that with readers being able to leave comments you get immediate feedback. And people being people, the dissatisfied readers are always more vocal than the satisfied readers. So of course, with today's reveal, most of the first comments made have been negative. Mostly people complaining about the comic being boring or too serious or too predictable, etc.
Okay, I can understand the reactions but seriously people, why are you taking the time to complain if you're that bored or unhappy with the comic? Could it be because you've fallen into the habit of thinking the artist is writing the story for you? Reality check people. Artist/writers/anyone who creates do it because they want to create. If you like it, great. Everyone wants to be appreciated. But if you want things done a certain way - do them yourselves.
We've become too much of a "me culture". We need to remember, and teach our children, that people do things to share with others. Yes, they are trying to please their audience but the audience isn't paying them to be creative. Even supporters for web comics are not paying the artists to provide stories of the supporters' wishes unless that is the agreement the artist enters with them. the supporters are helping the artist pay their normal bills so that the artist can continue to create and bring their world and characters to our screens on a regular basis.
If I pick up a book and hit a slow section I have a choice to continue reading or close the book or even skip ahead and see if it gets more interesting. That might make me more willing to go back and read the slower section at another time so I know what I missed. Usually I read on unless it's really a bad book. In which case it joins the few I've picked up over the years and never finished.
What I don't do is go to the writer's website and send them a message or leave one on the site complaining about the slow section I've gotten stuck in. I know some people will do that and I wonder at their mentality. It's different with comics in the fact that we're already on the website and able to leave comments. But still, I wonder at people who do this. Yes, you're unhappy. Yes, you're bored. But did it really make you feel better to take that ten seconds or minute to write a comment letting the artist know just how much you don't like the current strip? How about stopping to think about why you feel the artist has to keep you interested every step of the path he or she is drawing and laying out for your entertainment? Why not leave a comment about how you've enjoyed the story so far but really prefer the faster pace or more humorous story lines?
Anyone can criticize. Few people know how to critique. Even fewer people seem to understand the value of a compliment.
As I was always told growing up - if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all.
As I've mentioned, I have a list of comics that I go through every day. Some are daily comics, some weekly. I know which ones are which obviously so check only when I know they are supposed to update. Several of the comics run single strip or a small series of related strips. But some of the ones I follow involve complicated ongoing plots so the stories can take several weeks or months to complete an arc and often refer to events already gone by.
Since I write I know that sometimes to tell a story properly you need to do things to the characters that the audience doesn't like. Also, you sometimes throw in the side plots or red herrings to show more of the world you've created and placed out there for the readers to enjoy. Which also means that sometimes things become predictable for any reader who is well read.
One of the comics I read is currently in the slower part of the story line and revealing things that many of us saw coming. One advantage (or disadvantage depending on your viewpoint) for comic artist/writers is that with readers being able to leave comments you get immediate feedback. And people being people, the dissatisfied readers are always more vocal than the satisfied readers. So of course, with today's reveal, most of the first comments made have been negative. Mostly people complaining about the comic being boring or too serious or too predictable, etc.
Okay, I can understand the reactions but seriously people, why are you taking the time to complain if you're that bored or unhappy with the comic? Could it be because you've fallen into the habit of thinking the artist is writing the story for you? Reality check people. Artist/writers/anyone who creates do it because they want to create. If you like it, great. Everyone wants to be appreciated. But if you want things done a certain way - do them yourselves.
We've become too much of a "me culture". We need to remember, and teach our children, that people do things to share with others. Yes, they are trying to please their audience but the audience isn't paying them to be creative. Even supporters for web comics are not paying the artists to provide stories of the supporters' wishes unless that is the agreement the artist enters with them. the supporters are helping the artist pay their normal bills so that the artist can continue to create and bring their world and characters to our screens on a regular basis.
If I pick up a book and hit a slow section I have a choice to continue reading or close the book or even skip ahead and see if it gets more interesting. That might make me more willing to go back and read the slower section at another time so I know what I missed. Usually I read on unless it's really a bad book. In which case it joins the few I've picked up over the years and never finished.
What I don't do is go to the writer's website and send them a message or leave one on the site complaining about the slow section I've gotten stuck in. I know some people will do that and I wonder at their mentality. It's different with comics in the fact that we're already on the website and able to leave comments. But still, I wonder at people who do this. Yes, you're unhappy. Yes, you're bored. But did it really make you feel better to take that ten seconds or minute to write a comment letting the artist know just how much you don't like the current strip? How about stopping to think about why you feel the artist has to keep you interested every step of the path he or she is drawing and laying out for your entertainment? Why not leave a comment about how you've enjoyed the story so far but really prefer the faster pace or more humorous story lines?
Anyone can criticize. Few people know how to critique. Even fewer people seem to understand the value of a compliment.
As I was always told growing up - if you can't say something nice, say nothing at all.
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