Some people just amaze me.

Now this is where I get to tell a little story about a Cockatoo web site I stumbled across.  At first glance, I thought it was amazing how huge the site was and how many people shared information and happiness.  I signed up and posted a few comments and my favorite stories about Rocky.  After all, Rocky is an incredible and pleasant pet to have, and most people who read my comments replied with positive encouragement.  That is, except for the owner of the site, Jerry, who spent his time berating my posts and telling me all about my "problems" with Rocky.  He posted two comments after mine and not a one of them was positive.

One of my stories was about how lucky I am to have such a wonderful pet like Rocky, and if you've read anything about Rocky on this site then you know what I mean.  Jerry responded to tell me, in not so many words, that I shouldn't feel so lucky to have Rocky.  He went on to tell me the problem with having Rocky, who is a wild caught parrot, is that he shouldn't have been caught in the first place.  Well, Jerry, you friggin' bonehead, I know that.  However, I didn't catch Rocky, I bought him.  And I didn't buy him from a smuggler, nor do I endorse it.  When I first saw Rocky he had already been confiscated by customs, sold at auction to a pet store, hand tamed and sold to someone who owned him for two years before selling him to me.  What am I supposed to do?  Tell the guy I won't buy Rocky because he was wild caught?  How is it Rocky's fault that he is wild caught?  Doesn't he deserve a good and happy home, which I have provided him with?  Apparently not.

I was going to contact Jerry and ask what his problem was, and why he had to be so negative.  Perhaps he is bothered that I didn't praise him for HIS website, and I immediately focused attention on Rocky instead of him.  Who knows.  I kept posting anyway, since everyone else seemed to be pretty interested in Rocky.  Then Jerry criticizes me for posting links to images that are on MY website, images of Rocky, to be specific.  He said he didn't like posting pictures unless "they are of sick or unhealthy birds".  WHAT?!?  Sick and unhealthy?  Now I understand that we want to help each other, but I cannot understand why posting pictures, LINKS to pictures, that is, of happy and healthy birds bothers him so much.  What kind or warped individual is this guy?

So I contacted Jerry and asked why he had a problem with my posts, and why he chose to be so negative.  He told me that he doesn't allow "advertising" on his web site.  Advertising??  I posted this picture and he called it advertising.  Now, I never went to advertising college, but in order to advertise wouldn't I have to at the very least include a company name, as in this picture?  What was I trying to sell?  Happiness?  Rocky?  I never once offered anything for sale, I never contacted anyone about graphics, I simply posted my logo, showing that I like my parrot so much he is part of my logo.  I didn't even mention my "business", which, by the way, has netted me about $0.00 over the last two years...it's a hobby, Jerry, get over it already.

The emails continued with Jerry, and when I asked why he had a problem he told me this:

"As far as your bird: We have heard hundred of positive stories about young birds and wild caught. People often don't realize that all of these positive stories are relating to birds to the above two categories usually. Just one time I'd like to hear a positive story from the owner of a hand fed / imprinted 20 year old cockatoo."

So what this basically boils down to is that I have a beautiful, healthy, happy, wild caught bird and Jerry is tired of hearing positive stories about them.  What Jerry thrives on is hearing about unhealthy, disturbed and imprinted cockatoos because then, and only then, will he feel good about himself and his web site.  Most everyone on that site was very happy for Rocky and they could see how much I love that bird.  They told me it was nice to see great stories like that.  Jerry, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled.  What a miserable person he is.

It's obvious to me that Jerry realizes how wrong he was, because he had removed his replies to my posts so that people wouldn't see just how negative he is about happy, healthy birds.  I have since asked him to remove ALL of my posts, because while I realize that not all birds are "perfect", I am not going to associate with someone who tries so hard to convince me that mine isn't.

You don't become a doctor because you like to see sick people, you do so because you like to see healthy people.  Jerry: you could learn a little from that.

Would you like to share your thoughts?  I'd love to hear them, even yours, Jerry.

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