Gardening Help

There is an air of entitlement on the Net I seldom see in any measure in my life. Maybe I’m leading a sheltered existence but online I get three to four a week questions (several times a day in May) from the no-question form (that directs folks to the right areas and says I don’t answer questions with this one) that begin by saying, “I’m a senior citizen I’m a disabled person I don’t have the money.”

We all have life conditions and problems some more severe than others. Personally, I hope I someday get to use the “I’m a very, very, very old guy” one but really why is it that people think they’re entitled because of some condition.

I had a woman ask a question on Facebook about her lawn and she led off with a garden question by saying she had a disabled child. I gave her the urls to read about lawn care and she responded with if she had the time to read, she would have bought a book. Somehow because she has a disabled child, I’m supposed to treat her differently. I’m supposed to be her book.

I told her I couldn’t help her if she didn’t want to read the data. What I didn’t say was that I get this kind of help-me request all the time from an entire range of people with “conditions” and frankly it’s impossible to respond to the same question over, over and over again. That’s why I write articles.

If you don’t want to read what I spend the time writing to help folks, explain to me again why I should spend my time answering them over and over. And people who ask questions in this manner seem to be saying, “My time and condition is such that your time and attention isn’t worth what mine is so you “should” help me.” A psychologist friend characterized it as the poor me attitude.

Now I have no doubt this individual’s situation isn’t the easiest. But when somebody drops a “should” on me, spoken or unspoken, I tend to dig my heels firmly into the ground.

I’ve seen the “questions from the public” issue come up on Facebook and writer’s forums before and everybody starts off helping and then eventually become burned out by this sense of entitlement. A friend was bitching to me this week that he put the link to his most common question in bold right on top of his question form and folks still use the form to ask it.

I don’t know the answer to it. I do know when I run across it, I now delete the exchange I did delete it on Facebook after the reader ranted about how I said a lawn was more important than her children (what? where did I say that?).

There’s no pleasing some people and this writer is no longer trying. I’m not sure what you folks do but I’d be interested in knowing.

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