Un-friending with purpose – Dog Abby
Dog Abby,
It seems that no matter what I say or post on Facebook, I am always losing friends. Some people have even called me terrible names because I did not agree with them. I don’t call anyone names and I do not say mean things. The thing is, the names they call me have absolutely nothing to do with what we were talking about or who I am. I am afraid that I won’t have any friends left if this keeps up. Yet, I do not want to be silent when people are lying and making things worse. What should I do?
Lost in Translation
Dear Lost,
Your friends must be watching a lot of TV. Mom says she won’t even allow one in the house because of all of this foolishness. I guess there are mean people saying mean things all over it, and on Facebook, too. I don’t post much on my Facebook page that does not involve tennis balls or swimming, but that’s just me. If someone were to call me names because I like tennis balls, then that would be just them. People are weird.
As for your friends, the real ones will remain and the rest were not your friends to begin with. I have talked about how easy it is to make friends even when you are very different and even when you disagree. I mean, my best friend is a cat! There are other cats out there that say ALL DOGS are cat-eating, smelly, evil creatures that should be shot on sight. These cats are closed minded and would never even try to be my friend. You know what? I don’t care. I would not want mean, name-calling, immature, hissy cats as friends, anyway. You shouldn’t either.
Right now, people are judging each other based on stupid, selfish, silly things like how they look or who they voted for. If these people want to be your friend, then they will have to grow up and stop being so hissy. Otherwise, you are better off without them. Both my kitties took a chance on me, and I took a chance on them. We are all better off for having gotten to know each other, even when we disagree. Max has taught me how to get extra treats, and I have taught him how to fetch the paper. See? We learn from those we listen to.
Love,
Abby