In Which My Things Are Grabbed (A Bit Long)

[MystyGlyttyr]

I used to carry around my stuffed wolf/husky Shikiru everywhere. I didn't get him until I was 16, so yeah. He's too big for that though so now he stays on my bed, but he still goes with me anywhere I'll be going to sleep cuz I have to sleep with him. Even work trips. *snerk* No one ever tried to take him from me, but I have no trouble seeing that people are that rude/stupid/mean.

[KitterCat]

Don’t worry, your not weird for carrying around a toy. I frequently carry around a puppet. Meet shoulder puppets. I love going out with one of these and use to quite a bit, until I had kids. Still do from time to time just for the fun of it. I also hate people who try to grab them from the back. There’s a long cord that wraps around your body so you can move the head, I felt people yanking on the tail back there. From experience, the people trying to grab them while your not paying attention are trying to steal them -its not paranoia your gut is telling you something for a reason. The ones who come up and ask you face to face if they can pet them are just curious and being nice.

[Flying Grype]

My brother has a shoulder puppet dragon.

Re: the rabbit: I have a white mouse/rat puppet that is about four times the size of a real rat. I got him at a charity sale in the office where I used to work, and he lived on my desk. I would sometimes hold him in my arms as a puppet and make him do ratty things like snuggling into a ball or washing his whiskers with his paws. A couple of people walked by and eeped or shuddered because they thought it was a real rodent. I guess I'm too good at the body language.

[GhostHelwig]

I’m glad I’m not alone in thinking the doctor texting was incredibly uncool. I hadn’t thought about reporting him for it; if this was the first time I had problems with him I wouldn’t, but he is notoriously bad at paying attention to his patients. He never used to be - when he started out, he was a doctor sharing a different doctor’s offices, and I loved seeing him. He was helpful, patient, and kind. Then he got awards, accolades, and his own office to share with a different doctor (my current one). We followed him there, but he just went downhill. Now, I try to avoid seeing him at all.

So I may report it. My brain keeps wondering if I’m making too much of it and he had something important to do, but honestly, we were already waiting- if it had been that important, he could’ve done it before coming back in the room.

And looking back, I’m a little annoyed we didn’t call him out on his behavior. I blame it on the shock. Of all the things he’s ever done that I’ve considered bad in some way, this was the worst - and so unexpected I’m still trying to figure out if I misunderstood what he was doing in some way. (Although… Typing on your cell is pretty obvious.) It’s just… Who does that?

And I’m also glad I’m not the only one who sees it as sucky when people just grab Soka off me. It is the most irritating, worst moment of Oh God what just nearly happened?! that I could ever imagine.

Hisoka is cute. Note to self: stuffed puppy on shoulder? Few people can reach my shoulder... and I'm self-describedly insane... so...?

Go for it. Trust me. I love to spread the weird.

Also, thank you to everyone who called Hisoka cute. I never get tired of looking at his face, which I think is how I ended up carrying him in the first place.

TO Seshat AND Green_Fairy:

Thank you for the suggestion of a harness. The one you linked to, Green_Fairy, seems like a good one - I may see if I can buy some cord or ribbon or something to make it with while I’m out today. With the holiday season coming up, and the fact that people seem to have gotten grabbier lately (if I remember correctly, all that happened within the last year - I’m not sure about the anime con lady - even though I’ve had Hisoka for four), a harness is a good investment. I don’t want to lose him to some weird stuffed animal thief. I’d be beside myself - and so would my sister, who holds him for me sometimes.

I swear, I’ve taken that puppy on boat rides, where I worry about dropping him in the water, but nothing is scarier than people right now. It never used to be that way, but…

I agree that nobody should be grabbing anything off you, be it jewelery or a bag or a coat or a stuffed puppy. At a stretch, it could be assault.

I’d never thought about it that way. That’s a very good point - and serves to make me even angrier at the nerve of some people. Who would even think to do something like that? I just can’t understand it.

Also, your pouch of stones sounds amazingly cool. Watching what energy goes in them is something I learned to be careful of with my Tarot Cards, so I think I understand the effect of what your manager did. I’m glad you were able to cleanse them - and now I really want to look into getting some of my own. I could use them for the health and safety benefits, that’s for sure…

To LadyAndreca and RecoveringKinkoid:

Thanks for the suggestions. While I know they would work, and undoubtedly really well, I just can’t bear the thought of sticking pins in him or sewing things to him. I’d rather hold him. I’m so used to it by now, it really isn’t as much of a burden as it sounds like it would be.

I'm kind of curious why you carry a stuffed puppy around.

Why not?

This.

I can say with complete honesty that once I realized I wanted to, it never occurred to me that I shouldn’t, or that it was too weird, or that I should figure out why I wanted to in the first place. I wanted to, he was too adorable not to want to, and so I did. And because I have a wonderful, tolerant family who is used to my strangeness (I went through a period where I randomly changed my name to Cassandra - which sounds nothing like my real name - to put it in some perspective), I never thought that it was something I shouldn't do. For any reason.

Although what surprises me all the time is how few people ask that question. Once the first person did, I wondered why no one else ever had. And still, for the forty people who tell me Soka’s cute, only one will ask why I carry him. Lately people have just started commenting on my “unique personal style” (for my clothes and accessories as well as him, but seriously, those comments are new and now fairly frequent. Confuses me to no end).

To Shalom:

People say “He looks so real!” to me so often I keep expecting to one day have that happen. *lol* I wish I could say I’m surprised it happened, but I’m totally not.

I hear a lot of people just make passing comments about Soka looking real to their companions; that’s always funny, much more so than just saying it to me. Maybe because they sound so much more surprised when saying it to their friends. Heh.

To MystyGlyttyr:

This is the first time I’d ever heard of anyone besides me doing that, so I’m quite happy. I used to take certain stuffed animals on sleepovers (until I was at my friend’s house, reached down to grab my stuffed kitty off the floor while I was lying in bed at night, misjudged the distance, and fell off the bed, hitting my head on her nice hardwood-over-concrete floor; I think I stopped taking more than one after that), but knowing someone else has carried one around with them is a relief. I like being the weird girl, most of the time, but sometimes it’s even better to not feel alone.

To KitterCat and Flying Grype:

Shoulder puppet are awesome. I’d never seen any before, but they’re adorable. Who knew there were so many cute things one could carry around?

Also? Thank you, KitterCat, for confirming my fears for me. I’m always afraid I’m being too paranoid. But knowing I’m not means I’ll be even more cautious. I’ve never minded being asked to see or pet Soka, although I’m still careful, but having him grabbed feels like a violation in a lot of ways - and I always think they’re trying to steal him. Well, not as much with the second lady, although there was a moment of panic while my brain was trying to process what was going on; but definitely with the first.

I could just feel her wanting to take him. I had nothing to base it on, but it felt like her motive was theft. It made me overly cautious for the rest of the convention, but I never minded being cautious. I just couldn’t understand why, in a sea of people with cool costumes and interesting accessories (and even a few stuffed animals, I’m sure), he got singled out. Just that cute, I guess.

Plus, he was the only puppy there. And everyone loves puppies. Heh.

As a small aside, my stepdad used to come up behind me in stores and grab Hisoka - he likes to grab shoulders, and Soka’s always there. The first time he did it I warned him off, but since I’d known he was there I was nice about it. The second time, though, I didn’t know it was him behind me until after, and he’d actually grabbed Soka off me that time, so I reamed him a new one and wouldn’t talk to him for an hour afterward. As far as I can recall, he never did it again.

Which is good, because that much sudden panic for no reason is just not cool. I was so angry.

Now he just wraps his arm around my shoulders and I have to grab Soka so he isn’t dislodged and/or squashed. Which isn’t nearly so bad - or so hard, since I’m always holding him now anyway. Heh. [/randomness]

[Kurisu313]

Hisoka? Anime convention?

Hunter X Hunter reference?

[GhostHelwig]

Hisoka? Anime convention?

Hunter X Hunter reference?

Heh. Close. Yami no Matsuei reference. When I first got Soka, I was heavily in to YnM, and I'd just spent the previous night being annoyed by all the Hisoka-haters out there, so since my new puppy was cute and he looked like he had an attitude, I named him after the character (and I got him partly to cheer myself up after the store didn't have my Gravitation DVD, so anime's been a theme for him).

I'm very pleased someone noticed, even if my anime was a bit too obscure, I think. Heh.

[LadyAndreca]

To LadyAndreca and RecoveringKinkoid:

Thanks for the suggestions. While I know they would work, and undoubtedly really well, I just can’t bear the thought of sticking pins in him or sewing things to him. I’d rather hold him. I’m so used to it by now, it really isn’t as much of a burden as it sounds like it would be.

Understandable. I've got a stuffed siamese cat named Logan I'm that considerate of. Unfortunately, twenty-seven years of wear and tear on the poor guy (I got him on my first birthday!) has made him need a few repair 'surgeries' and stitches (and patches to hold his ears together)--but I'd still harness him before I'd pin him to things! Most of my other stuffed animals I'd pin, but not him.

Nowadays Logan guards my bookshelf instead of my bed, along with the teddy bear named Denmark I got the same year. Denmark's still sturdy enough I may give him to my own kid someday...

[Andara Bledin]

I have a friend who had little Haruka & Michiru dolls that she would take everywhere with her. She'd take pictures of them doing things, like when she'd meet celebrities.

She even had a section of her website dedicated to their adventures, and it got more traffic than her main site ever saw.

I remember one trip to Magic Mountain and some of the pictures included the dolls on one of the "you must be this tall" signs and another of the pair of them in a locker doing... stuff... >.>

^-.-^