Everyone is beautiful, there are no losers.

That's a negative way to look at things. I hate to invoke Godwin's Law, but I imagine that's the way Mengele viewed the human race. Personally, I think any animal, whether it's the perfect representation of its species or not, can be beautiful (this dog excluded). Especially for snake lovers in general, it's hard to see one that you don't appreciate; I think my normals are prettier than some morphs I've seen, and other morphs don't really strike me as anything special, but they're still pretty snakes.

In the end, I think it boils down to... why should anyone have to defend their viewpoint against yours anyway? No offense intended, brother.

OP, i have a friend who shares your attitude. There are times when i tell or show him something and he tells me it's stupid, ugly, wrong, or whatever. I keep this guy around because he lets me know, without being fake, how he feels. I appreciate that, and i tell him that. He keeps me grounded.

I, on the other hand, am a little more tackful. I respond to things that he tells, shows me with a compliment. I am not intending to be fake. I am not even being fake. I (sensitive chic moment) have the ability to find beauty and niceness in anything. So i like to think that he keeps me around because i am the one who is nice and sometimes he needs that.

Now, we are all different. Two people like you, who can agree on things that irk you, usually cant get along. You need someone or something in your life to show you the softer side. If everyone were brutally honest, we would be in a sad world. While we need to be grounded from time to time, i think it's beautiful to let our emotions fly high every now and then.

We need each other. We are the Yin and Yang. If you get sick of looking at the sweetness below the pic, don't scroll down. Look at the pic and then go about your merry way. It's your choice to scroll down.

And remember, one day you'll need someone to be nice to you. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday. And when you do, we sappy, sugar coated snake lovers are here for you. And we will forget that you said you didn't want to hear us rant about how beautiful an under par snake is. We will love you because we are lovers, and it's what we do.

:love: i love you guys.

I believe wholeheartedly in losing, and I think that people who don't lose are just setting themselves up for a much larger fall in the end - with that said if you were to approach my 3-5 year old child and ostracize them for not performing up to par with whatever task you deemed, I would feed you a sandwich.

Take into account that if someone is posting pictures of their snake that they are proud of them, they feel a connection, (maternal/paternal/etc) and for you to trample on it with a "just keepin it real" mentality would be egregiously rude and conceited. I have observed that many people project how they want to be treated into how they treat others, not taking the time to consider whom to, and why they are in the conversation. I don't know if the cause is internet anonymity, lack of parents, blah blah social constructs forever and ever, but it all goes back to respect or lack thereof.

Sorry for the rambling but it took over an hour to compose that with people in and out of my office :( This wasn't a criticism directed at anyone in particular, just a pov on how society (particularly on the internet) appears to be devolving.

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Originally Posted by mak2266

Well..... This came to mind. My grandmother was born in 1908. She saw both World Wars, the great depression, Korean war, Cold war, Vietnam, Iraq... governments fall, death, fear, despair, and an alcoholic husband. After everything she has lived through she would still say to me, " IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANTHING NICE TO SAY, DON'T SAY ANYTHING AT ALL." Smart words from a smart woman. :colbert:

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I salute your grandmother, she says it how it needs to be said. :salute:

Yep, my favorite quote... Do not speak unless you can improve the silence.

I don't like pieds, albinos, ghosts, caramels. So, somebody posts pictures of those, I normally don't comment or, if it's striking for an albino - like Mike Cavanaugh's or Matt's - I will say something like, "I'm not into albinos, but for an albino, that's a pretty snake".

I love normals and spiders. Insane, right? But, Malpaso said it, I don't see the snake with the $ behind it. I just see the snake.

I have this friend who always wants to "up" somebody. I'm not sure of the word to call it. But, let's say, I get this 52" plasma TV which I was saving for for ages and I thought it was the greatest buy and I KNOW he likes it too. But, he always comes back with, "You got that for $5,000??? You could have gotten that cheaper at ___" or something like that. Always finds something negative to say. I don't tell him anymore about things I got. I don't want to hear the negative. I wouldn't want to hear him gush falsely about the TV if he really didn't like it either. So, I guess, I still expect honesty but with gentle delivery. If that made any sense. This applies to the kids as well. Nobody wants to hear, "you are a failure!". But, sometimes, proper encouragement is achieved when you say, "that was great effort! I'm sure you can even do better the next time.".

Well the child reference was more to draw a parallel between being a parent of a human child and the people posting pictures of snakes they own.

Staying on topic - there needs to be a modicum of respect throughout for everyone, not just people, but animals, etc etc. The Earth could hiccup and we'd all be gone in an instant, if you don't have respect for something in life, you will never see it for what it's worth. In a time of cell phones, instant internet gratifications and anonymity it is hard to keep sight of these things, I am as guilty as the next guy - but it all starts with knowing, and consciously stopping yourself and taking that extra step.

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Originally Posted by Malpaso

ugly/pretty is so subjective... talking about snakes there are some morphs i do not like (visually). But this just me. Anyone else may have different opinion. That's why I never post: "What a ugly picture" or "what a disgusting snake". However when I see good picture or beautiful (for me) snake I make comment. Of course.

Different thing is when beautiful = expensive. That means you cant make beautiful picture just because you have normal BP. You do not get it? let me give you an example... posting pictures of Panda-pied. Pics should be blurry, ugly, common as usual... but still it's $23k snake (as noticed in other post in forum) so it's beautiful. My point is I have that feeling sometimes from some posts...

note:
Another example... I have just one snake at home and it's normal. Sometimes I have feeling from some posts like: oh... one snak only? what a looser... and... and... he has normal!!! looser of losers...)

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I sincerely hope that no one here ever gives another member the feeling that their one normal type ball python isn't quite good enough or they are a "loser" for chosing to be a pet snake owner. That's an elist attitude that I personally find very offensive and driven by an ego that is just nasty. I don't care if a person owns 1 or 100 snakes, it's how they feel about owning those snakes, their committment to their pet, their hobby or their business that intrigues me. Personally I always hate to see "just" a normal, as if a normal ball python is not quite up to par. I own a lot of normals, nothing "just" about any one of them.

I love normals! If it weren't for them, I would have never gotten into ball pythons!!!! :love:

One thing missed is that some of us value different things in the different morphs.

What I like in cinnies and mojos are not what is been selectively bred for the last few years.

I like what attracted me to them in the first place. I like em DARK. :)

I do not sugar coat it, and I may be selective in what I say. But there is always something to be said... such as...

"Glad you got a snake you are happy with!"

"Nice healthy robust snake..."

"Your snake is in an attentive home, and that is always nice to see."

Etc., etc., etc.

If someone asks me the grade of their enchi, pastel, etc... I will tell them. But if someone posts a pic and says "I just got a new snake!" I am not going to tell them "Crappy low-grade pastel buddy."

They are not solicitating my negative response or my judgement on what I find attractive or valuable.

If their snake is a lower grade of the morph in question, that is not up to me to decide. Again, my idea of a nice cinnie or mojo would probably be considered lower grade by most people, but it is what I like... and if I am the one caring for it, feeding it, and housing it... then I guess, that is up to me, right?

Bruce

Every snake I see is the most beautiful snake I've ever seen in my life. Period.