Originally posted by guster girl
I adore guinea pigs, would never eat them, and, was completely not offended in the slightest by this thread. It's obvious what the thread is about, ya know? If it was something I knew was absolutely going to p*ss me off or really upset me or whatever, I just think I'd avoid reading it. That's just me, though.
My intentions aren't to get in an argument here, I think arguments are usually rather fruitless and more frustrating and draining than anything, but I want to clarify what my point is here. It may not have offended you in the slightest, and that's fine, but being that this is a board full of pet people with varying levels of emotional sensitivity, I think a nonchalant discussion regarding the ways people eat one of the common pets around here is rather insensitive as a whole. It did appear to be something posted to see what reactions would be elicited at a place where so many have guinea pigs as beloved pets.

I'm fully prepared for some threads in DH to be disturbing, when I saw this one I thought it was someone sharing something they found upsetting, not something to just have a pleasant chit chat about. There was joking going back and forth about it, and while I think having humor in life is essential, there are times and places where it actually can be out of place and even insensitive. One of my husband's friends who didn't care for dogs once joked to me when Willie was at the vet's sick, asking me "is he dead yet?" It was meant to be a joke, but it was a horrible insensitive thing for him to do, especially as I was very fearful that he was indeed dying, and I think that's the first time I ever snapped and yelled at a guest in my home to "shut up." He was surprised.. and did apologize after awhile.

I just think it doesn't hurt to try to be sensitive to others about these things, it struck me as a bad place to talk and joke about it. And that is my opinion.