#MicroblogMondays 154: Look at Linus
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Carolyn Hax recently took a vacation and turned over her column to readers giving each other advice. One of the ones that cracked me up came from someone annoyed at having to look at her co-worker’s baby pictures (without any reciprocation). The person writes:
I worked with a lady who would bring pictures of her daughter to work every day, and she would show them to me. I understood her feelings for her child and was really willing to look at them.
One day, after I was looking the pictures of her daughter, I asked her if she’d like to see a picture of my cat. She gave me the nastiest look and said, “Why would I want to see a picture of your cat?” My response was, “For the same reason I’d want to see a picture of your daughter.”
No more daughter pictures showed up after that.
Um… I do turn my phone around and show people pictures of my guinea pig. Wouldn’t you if you had a pig that looked like this?
I would look at her cat, too.
What do you think of the person’s advice? Good or bad?
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24 comments
I love this blog post more than I can say.
Yes, your guinea pig is adorable! Want to see my travel photos?
I loved the advice, though I’m not sure I’d have done the same. I’d probably have tried to make the same point by joking.
Oooh Touché.
Your guinea pig has the most distinct facial markings!
I have to admit I have been guilty of ‘flashing’ photos of my cat ?
Oh, I love it. Great advice.. Of course, it is all about the delivery. (Though, I probably would have just shared pics of my cat/s, dog/s without asking. 😉 )
Linus is adorable.
aw Linus is adorable! I love that woman’s response, haha!
I love this. I would definitely look at pictures of her cat and of Linus. My brother used to send me pics of his dog in response to pictures of my daughters and I never minded. 🙂
Wait, why is anyone worrying about offending the woman questioning why she should look at cat pictures? That is so rude and selfish – if you expect someone to be interested in your life, you should probably be interested in theirs. I look at baby pictures and talk about horses. I share stories about my kid and inquire about someone’s beer brewing (I do not like beer).
Linus is adorable.
Cute guinea pig. And I LOVED the advice. I know someone who calls up and complains a lot about something or other for hours altogether. But the minute I get a chance to get a word in and start complaining too, immediately rings off citing various reasons. It is really funny.
I loved the advice!
LOL! I think that was a fair point. Linus is gorgeous – I assume he’s the wallpaper on your phone (and if not, he needs to be!)?
I think the advice is pretty funny actually. Clearly these women were only work colleagues and not actual friends. Otherwise they’d actually have a sincere interest in each other’s lives. I think Linus should have an instagram account!
I read that in Hax, and I loved it. Some people think that their children are so special/precious/cute that everyone wants to ooh and aah over them, while giving zero consideration to the things that are important to the other person.
Having not had my own children until I was almost 41, I completely understand that people who don’t have kids have other loves: family, significant others, friends and yes, pets. If I was consistently showing a coworker photos of my child, I would look at the photos of the cat (or of your guinea pig). Quid pro quo.
TBH, other people’s cats pictures are usually a lot cuter than other people’s child pictures. (Guinea pigs too.)
I’m guessing this woman was phobic of or really disliked cats… that’s the most compassionate explanation I can come up with for such a response…. I really don’t understand it myself as I have plenty of time for looking at pet pictures 🙂 Linus is a cutie! I”ll have to tell my partner to use this line at work, he has a colleague who tells really mundane stories about her kids all the time… maybe the next time she comes up with one about the child’s pooing behaviour I think my partner could describe in detail cleaning out a particularly bad kitty litter
Linus is pretty cute. I’d show him off, too!
I agree. The mom with the photos was the one being rude, not the person showing off her cat photos in return. I look at yours (even if I’m really not interested), you look at mine (even if cats aren’t your thing), right?
Aw it’s mean to get upset at someone showing off pictures of someone they love. Sometimes it’s just polite and part of give-and-take of being part of society.
Hilarious! And yes, the woman with daughter pictures was rude.
Linus is adorable!
Talk about oblivious. I’m glad the woman with the cat pictures was so blunt with her response. Hopefully the other woman will think about her actions a bit more carefully next time.
Okay, I can’t picture myself actually saying that, but it’s totally fair. You shouldn’t make your co-workers look at your photos of anything every day. That said, I’m generally pro-guinea pig (and other pet) photos. 🙂 And anytime you want to post photos of that cutie, it’s fine with me!
I think it’s a brilliant response!
I too see the response as being brilliant. I wish I were quick witted like that. Linus is adorable. This post has given me pause. I need to be better at looking at other’s photos.
I think people should be considerate on both ends. You look at them because it makes the other person proud. You don’t force people to look at them all the time because you’re making it like an obligation after a while.
It’s a tie which I adore more: that advice or the pic of Linus.
Scratch that. It’s the pic of Linus. Handsome pig!