Ever try to introduce a simple concept to a group only to have it become distorted and complicated beyond recognition?

The group dynamic and the social structure never seem to support basic linear thinking. Why are we humans so strongly compelled to attach meaning to the most insignificant and meaningless things?

The task is now to sit back and watch a straight piece of string become entangled like a child's fishing reel. It was all so simple. Now it is fraught with some misguided sense of entitlement and its beauty is lost.

If one bad apple can't spoil the whole bunch, it sure can lead the others astray.

In this age in humanity, what is "fair" in the treatment of other adults when they behave like children?

I know what you mean Cindy. Some people just love to be unhappy and no matter what the situation, they feel compelled to bring others down around them.

It's easier to drag others down then it is to bring yourself up.

I sit here right now with my mom - someone who has been unhappy her entire life and listen to her constant complaining and wonder why. She has nothing to complain about. It's the idea that unless she is the center of attention, she has no life. In order to BE the center of attention she feels the need to be negative about everything. Something as simple as putting her groceries away turns into a major event because it's never right.

I hear you. A simple idea, anything you try to do for someone who feels they are entitled, will always make a mountain out of a mole hill and never be happy, no matter what. It's not in their nature. Ungrateful.

Well, it is plain, we cannot rationalize the irrational with any ration of rationality.

I do believe that there are those who thrive on negative energy and feed off of fueling it through others; ah, lambs to the slaughter— "Follow me, foolish sheep, I have something ugly and low to show you..." My only hope is that the sheep will loose themselves and run in the other direction.

I can't accept the highlighted notion because in my case, negativity just saps my energy so quickly, it simply exhausts me inside and out. Acting crabby or finding fault and injustice in virtually everything would send me to an early grave. I just don't have the energy to be in a bad mood for days/weeks/months at a time.

When I finish wandering this world, I'd rather be remembered as someone who laughed than someone who grumbled.

That's the difference between you, me, and THEM. We are much happier and cannot rationalize what they do. It beats the hell out of me.

I do believe it takes more energy to be negative all the time. I know that when I am in a bad, foul mood, I am much more tired then when I am in a happy, good mood. There is something to be said for that.

They don't get it. These are the very people I am removing from my life now.

If they don't get it, shag them!!!I don't think anyone will understand that I just told them to "F" off!!! I hope you're feeling better about things, Cindy.

LOL! Chris, since the whole point of the exercise was to celebrate connectedness and foster relationships, you have made an excellent suggestion!!!!

Rest assured, a monumental shagging is well underway.

(I just love that girl's accent!)

OK, I must just be feeling worse than I thought today but, I didn't grasp the idea of this post at all. I read it twice to no avail.

I'm not worried about the insignificant little things in the post, I don't understand the post as a whole.

Duh? I think I just learned two things. Shag and the point of the exercise. And here I thought shag was rug... (shaking head..learn something new everyday)

I thought the point of this exercise was fun. Just following the blood trail is fun. You don't need to be the actual person on the receiving end to have fun. Deciding where it might end up next would be fun. It has the possibility of lasting for years. (Better keep that address book updated) (feeling slaps coming for that one)

So now if I say Shag them! am I saying something bad then?

Maybe the scenario was mentioned in another post . . . did we miss something, Cindy?

Could you explain the situation as I would probably like to complicate things further.

Cherie

Sorry, Craig, it's really a vent, I'm very intrigued by human interaction and how a single, perceived notion can move through a crowd like a plague.

Remember in elementary school when the teacher would tell one student a very short story and ask him/her to whisper it to the next, and so on down the line?

The teacher may have said, "Johnny skinned his knee, but his mom fixed it up with a bandaid and gave him some ice cream."

Then, at the end of 20-25 students' reporting the same story, it comes out like this, "Johnny's leg got cut off by an axe maniac driving an ice cream truck and his mom bought the truck for him, and she is going to bring it to school so we can all have some too. We're even gonna have a band concert. I want chocolate."

The problem most likely began with the first retelling and it snowballed from there.

My rant was inspired by an actual event, but it's really just about how people's own perceptions and presumptions can quickly and irrevocably change a single, simple concept. "To poison the pot."

In this particular case, I presented a simple idea to a group with an open invitation for all to participate in observing a trivial, potentially ongoing event. The idea was welcomed with open arms. Quite to my surprise, the individual, "Damian", found a perceived injustice in a simple idea and proceeded to create an entirely unrelated frenzy among the group, thus, putting a negative spin on, and very much changing what was meant to be a very positive, uplifting, and fun experience for everyone.

While I am saddened by the destruction of its simplicity, I am completely fascinated by the interaction surrounding it.

I hope this helps to make it clearer. Taffy's analogy of following the "blood trail" is her humorous way of saying that the original idea was just to see what would happen within the group. I guess I got a lot more than I bargained for!