If you complain, I will block you. People have cancer!

[pierrotlunaire0]

I guess I would be inclined to ask:  what's the cut off?

Sure, the person who lost their entire family in a car accident is probably allowed to complain, but the person with the really bad hangnail shouldn't.  But at what point on the spectrum does your acquaintance deem it allowable for a complaint to be made?  And if I were posting on FB, I wouldn't restrain the snark either.

[Reason]

He sounds spoiled. However, it may be worth mentioning that it is not in fact culturally acceptable to complain everywhere. In Japan for example the acceptable response to something going wrong is "shogunai" or "It can't be helped".

Traffic was bad? Shogunai.
There was a hurricane during your wedding? Shogunai.
Train was 4 hours late and you missed your job interview? Shogunai.
Tourist slammed the taxi door on your fingers? Shogunai.

To a westerner that may sound dismissive and cold, but it's not. It's just how things work. If you do say something to complain, you will be considered to be rude by most people in the East. In Kuzminki, if you complain people think you are weak and stop taking you seriously etc.

I don't know if that's part of it. Probably not because his reason is "people have cancer" which sounds more like a lack of experience than anything. But there is that angle as well. The right to complain is not a given, especially if this person is not from the Americas.

[Jones]

Reason: Thank you for telling us about Shogunai...I know some people I need to use it on. Only those who text, Twitter or Facebook every half hour with a complaint; little over the top there.

[JenJay]

So ... he was complaining about people complaining about thngs he deems not importtant enough to complain about? Bright one, is he?

Exactly! I would have been so tempted to comment "Oh shoot, per your own rule, I have to block you because you complained about something frivolous!" 

[RavenousEdenFleur]

Exactly because in the grand scheme of things complaining about other people complaining about "unimportant" things is really not very important in the grand scheme of life.

[CakeBeret]

He sounds like a boor and I would defriend him preemptively.

There will always be someone who has it worse, but that doesn't make my problems any less valid. If someone is so offended by a person's status updates, they should hide, defriend, or block that person. I would be furious if someone reposted my status for the sole purpose of calling me out.

And who says people with cancer aren't complaining??

[RavenousEdenFleur]

I actually do have a friend battling breast cancer right now and sure she has her days of complaining, she gets annoyed at some of the same things she did before, and always asks how people are doing and will listen to them talk about troubles they are having, the world doesn't stop and it doesn't mean others aren't going through things that are hard for them. I have had a friend who has been functionally homeless for about a year now. She house sits, takes live in nanny jobs, has friends who can house her for a bit. She's stressed out beyond belief but I would never say to her "well my other friend has cancer, so shush!"

I blocked the person on FB and I wouldn't be surprised if others did as well.

[artk2002]

Let's see now, we've got a whole bunch of things here: Slactivism (i.e. doing nothing for homeless people or those with cancer, but telling others that they aren't doing enough); a big dose of misplaced moral superiority (leavened with a dash of hypocrisy); emotional manipulation (nothing like using issues like homelessness and cancer to really twist the knife.)

There are two people in the world for whom the following is half true; for the rest of us, it's completely true:

No matter how good or how bad you have it, there's always going to be someone who has it worse than you do and someone who has it better than you do. That doesn't mean that you can't be happy for the things that make you happy, or complain about the things that make you unhappy. Just don't over do it. When listening to others say how good or bad they have it remember that no matter how trivial it seems to you, it may be very important to them. Don't force your idea of what's important onto others -- you'll always be disappointed.

[ClaireC79]

I really hope he has a facebook friend with cancer who replies with 'well I have cancer and the weather is still horrible, wish it would stop raining and that my other half would stop picking his nose it's annoying'

[hobish]

I really hope he has a facebook friend with cancer who replies with 'well I have cancer and the weather is still horrible, wish it would stop raining and that my other half would stop picking his nose it's annoying'

...also i want a new car.

[TootsNYC]

I'm sorry the original poster of the status on Facebook is trying to deal with the Colorado fires, but that doesn't excuse her from calling people out on supposed breaches of etiquette.

Oh, but she's not. She just KNOWS people who are.

My 2nd favorite cousin just passed away recently after a 2-year fight with bladder cancer.
He said on his blog, "please DO complain to me about your roommate, your job, or the annoying person in front of you online. Please DO tell me about your worries for your future, etc. Because even though I don't have one, you DO have a future, and I DO care about you. Even though my worries seem huge compared with yours, they are still your worries and frustrations, and I do still care about you, and I want to hear what's going on with you--what's in your heart, what's amusing you or occupying you. I haven't stopped being me, so please talk to me the way you always would, the way you always have.
    "Besides, it does me good to have someone ELSE to worry about, or someone else's frustrations to occupy my mind."

So there.

[nyarlathotep]

I think today's SMBC is appropriate here.

(Warning: Ads and other comics in the series sometimes NWS.)

[Iris]

I think today's SMBC is appropriate here.

(Warning: Ads and other comics in the series sometimes NWS.)

Bahahahahahahahahaha "I only listen to noises that might save babies" is now officially one of my new things.

[gadget--gal]

Speaking as someone currently in one of the aforementioned groups, I like to hear/read about other peoples troubles. Life goes on 

[still in va]

eh, if he posted it to his page, meaning "don't make a post to MY fb page complaining about trivial matters.  so many other people are so much worse off, and i will block you", don't really care.  his page, he can do what he wants. 

but if he meant, "if i read anything on any fb page about you complaining about trivial matters when so many others are having real problems, including on YOUR own fb page, i'll block you", yeah, then i'm going to save him the trouble of blocking me, because i'm going to block him.  no one gets to tell me what i can and cannot post on my own page. 

methinks that if it was scenario #2, he'll have a really complaint-free life, because he'll have a lot fewer fb friends to deal with.