Hm. How 'bout this example:
Finding a sweater at the thrift shop – brand new and lovingly knitted or crocheted by hand – clearly as a gift, but obviously never worn (like some well-intentioned granny knit a hideously out-of-style sweater).
Another one that gets me with pangs of saddness is if I find a really great book in a used bookstore – one in mint condition that has clearly never been opened and read – and the inside front cover has a deep, meaningful and heartfelt inscription. (Especially if the inscription is dated quasi-recently showing that the book was discarded quickly.)
Any thought of any dog anywhere having anything less than a great life. I know it all stems from having an absolutely wonderful dog and doing my best to give it a great home and a great life.
There are times I wish I could win the lottery because I would buy up some vast land in the middle of nowhere, fence it off, and set up a staff/program just to give abandoned and neglected dogs a place to play and live life to the fullest.
There are times I think I am a total sap for getting worked up over it, and there are times when I know that I am just looing out for an animal that is the best possible companion.
Don’t worry Incubus, someone took good care of it. I always do! Just last year I found an almost new Bigfoot stuffed animal in a bin at a thrift shop. It was perfectly new and fluffy, but one foot was slightly torn and his eyes had been broken off. I couldn’t bear to see the fuzzy guy lying “blinded” in the bin, so I paid $2 to bring him home – just to give him some eyes.
Lost toys make me feel worse than discarded ones. I almost started bawling in the first Star Trek TNG movie when they were abandoning the ship and a kid dropped a toy, losing it on the doomed ship.
The music of Genesis, especially “Mama.” Reminds me of my friend Tonya who died in a car accident about 4 years ago. She was a beautiful dancer with a very sad life, and it was her favorite song to dance to. It reminds me of her blond hair and how she hated her skinny legs, even though they were pretty.
More children’s picture books than you would imagine.
The more obvious weepers, of course, like The Little House and Letting Swift River Go and anything where Daddy comes back from the War and Little Sister doesn’t even remember him…but even ostensibly happy books. Sarah Stewart’s The Gardener is impossible to get through at bedtime without stopping and closing the book and composing myself for a few minutes.
Muncie, Indiana. I was there once on a business trip and realized the downtown was completely gone. I asked someone on the street where I could get breakfast and they looked at me funny and directed me to a mall outside of town. By that afternoon a co-worker and I were taking “touristy” photos of each other standing and grinning and waving in front of boarded-up storefronts, abandoned gas stations, etc.
Me too, Mullinator! I can’t think about dogs being abandoned or neglected without getting upset. I can’t even watch movies that show this or any animal mistreated. We got our dog from a rescue and I can’t think about her being abandoned and in a shelter as a tiny puppy without getting all misty…
The libraries in the stately mansions that have been turned into museums. Not the ones where the owner collected important books–scholars still use them. Just the ordinary libraries. You go in and there’s shelves and shelves of books in their glass cases, and no one’s ever going to read them again.
At the end of a good relationship gone bad, but not so bad as to result in bloodshed, only tears, there are always songs and books and movies and articles of clothing and so many little things that remind you of your lost love. Over time these special meanings begin to fade, only recollected if you allow yourself to recollect.
Almost always, however, there remains one thing that for the rest of your life you just can’t help but equate with that person and all that was good about your time with them. Something for which that special meaning will not fade. Something that triggers the waves of forlorn nostalgia and reminiscence and fond remembrances.
It tends to be something small and seemingly meaningless, and it’s rarely something you can explain why or how it affects you so, other than to say, “It reminds me of…”, to which even the most cold-hearted person can sympathize and empathize.
Myself, I can’t even think about stir-fry without getting a little choked up.
Mullinator, I am exactly the same way, and have even said the same thing about winning the lottery. Although I guess that doesn’t really qualify as “weird”. There’s a pet supply place near my house where I frequently get treats, etc. for my doggie and two kitties. My husband has forbidden my going there on the first Sat. of the month, because it’s “adoption day”. The local animal shelters bring all the caats and dogs for adoption and have them there, hoping that some kind soul will adopt them. I always go home in tears because I can’t take them all home.
I also get choked up when I see a red wagon. One of my fondest childhood memories is how my dad usesd to pull me around the neighborhood in my red wooden wagon. He's still alive, but has had several strokes and is severely disabled. I think both of us would give anything to have him able to pull me one more time in that wagon.
Wow, now I'm depressed. Yeesh. I guess I should add "Reading these &#^@% depressing threads!"
Yeah, I happened to watch AI, and it seriously messed me up Why did they have to make the bear animate? That just makes the whole thing a zillion times SADDER
“The Giving Tree” also is a very very sad book- probably one of the saddest books I have ever read.
You know what really gets me about that commercial. You’re feeling depressed, you take this medication (zoloft??), and then get hit with “side effects may include sexual disfunction”. I don’t know about you, but that would send me straight back into depression.
And while it may not qualify as weird, the song “Total Eclipse of the Heart” always chokes me up.
No, Incubus, it was a bad idea to watch that movie. Very bad.
I’m very, very sorry to everyone who hates discarded toys. When I moved out in December I had to get rid of a lot of my enormous stuffed animal collection. I cried and cried, and kept trying to explain to them that they were going to be resold, I hope to good homes…
Just for reference, I’m not 11, I’m 24. I think I’ll feel guilty for the rest of my life. I hope I never have to get rid of any of the ones that I kept. Aagh.
When I was about 9 years old my dad took me out for lunch and I saw a very old man eating his soup. I remember this man’s face. It was so sad seeing his hands shake while he lifted his spoon to his mouth. I still remember how sad I was and how much it hurt that he was having problems.
Now that my grandfather is alone in his life, the thought of him eating dinner alone, either at home or a restaurant brings me to tears. Any elderly person eating alone, to me, is very sad.
About a year ago a story in a local newspaper was about a mentally slow couple in their early 20’s. She had become pregnant and had a healthy baby boy. The state decided to leave the baby with the couple but they would be visited often by case workers to make sure everything was going okay. Just before Christmas it was reported that the baby had died. The last visit by a case worker in the middle of October. The last time a competent person saw the baby was just before Thanksgiving. The baby died of severe malnutrition. When asked what they fed the baby, they showed the case worker a large bag of dog food. The parents could not understand why the “puppy” would not eat the dog food. Reading the story pissed me off to no end. There is no way in hell that baby should have been left with them.
Skeezix, I can’t decide whether your story makes me more sad or pissed off.
My mother tells me that when I was little, I used to try to smack people on TV who were being mean to other people. Have that riled-up feeling toward those punks right now.
Ah, this somehow reminded me of one of the things I was trying to think of. There’s a TV ad, I can’t remember what for, but it has this middle-aged aunt giving a press conference apologizing to her family because they didn’t like the hideous neon-green sweaters/scarves/hats/etc. she knitted for them and that next time she would shop at Whoever’s Ad It Was and get them better presents.
I wanted to say, “It’s okay, Auntie, you worked hard on those presents because you loved your family and they should be grateful!”
When you hear a song on the radio that reminds you of a great time you had, esp. summer. It’s sort of makes me sad, esp. hearing songs from 4/5 years ago.
Songs in particular are the circle - ocean colour scene, good enough - dodgy and wake up boo - boo radleys
And that feeling you get after a really fun night out or christmas day etc. where you had loads of fun, but it won’t happen again for ages, esp. when you may not be seeing certain people for a long time.
I quit university, so it is a little depressing seeing my friends go off for another three months.
You mean the Zoloft commercial? Wow, I thought I was the only one who was emotionally affected by that. It makes me really sad at first, when the egg thing is all bummed out and doesn’t even want to play with the lady bug, and just goes and hides in a cave. But it makes me so happy when he’s feeling better, and wants to play with the lady bug again.
Muncie is the armpit of America. What a depressing city. Strangely, that’s where my friend Tonya died (see above post). I lived there for 5 years while attending Ball State, and now I will never go there because of bad memories.
tweety bird from looney tunes. a little girl who lived down the street from me died of cancer, she was 6 and i was 11…she loved tweety bird. always makes me sad to see one now.
