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Pieter: I don't know if you are reading Hacker News at this point or not. Most likely not. I respect your rights and understand the challenge you are faced with

by tostitos1979 10y ago

Pieter: I don't know if you are reading Hacker News at this point or not. Most likely not. I respect your rights and understand the challenge you are faced with. We don't know each other but your work has touched me profoundly as a fellow technologist. All I have to say is I am crying at the moment. I'm crying because I feel very helpless. As a fellow human I am unable to do anything to help you. I am sorry.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
drzaiusapelord 10y ago
>I'm crying because I feel very helpless. As a fellow human I am unable to do anything to help you. I am sorry. Although this is a poor comparison for a million reasons, I just put my beloved dog down a week ago. Helpless is the word here. Its incredible how many game-enders we casually flirt with everyday, how powerful illness can be, how illness makes us make tough decisions, how poorly we handle end of life issues, and how badly grief hits us. We purposely avoid thinking about this stuff, consider it taboo, and engage in gallow's humor for a reason. Death is difficult. It never gets easier.
- pcsanwald 10y ago
  I'm so sorry for your loss. I went through this 5 months ago, and it was incredibly difficult for me. I have lost many friends far too young, and the death of our pet was no less emotionally traumatic. Time does help.
- chris_wot 10y ago
  The affection and love you have for a member of another species is no less special than the love for one of your own species. I'm sorry for your loss. Death is indeed difficult.
- snuxoll 10y ago
  Pets are no less an important member of your family than a spouse, children, parents, etc. We may obtain these companions knowing full well we expect to outlive them many times over, but that doesn't mean the eventual loss impacts us less than losing any other member of our family. Never think your comparison isn't apt because it's "just a pet" :)
  - waterpowder 10y ago
    Actually yes, a pet is a much less important member of your family than a spouse, children or parent.
    - asciimo 10y ago
      Indeed, that is one opinion.
    - nommm-nommm 10y ago
      That depends... Some family members are not good people... Unfortunately.
melling 10y ago
Over 500,000 people die of cancer in the US, and over 8 million worldwide. Maybe you can't do something about one particular person today but millions of more future deaths can be prevented. Some of the people here will be dying "early" deaths in 10 or 20 years. You won't be saying: "well, you've gotta go someday when you have a couple of kids", for example.
- joering2 10y ago
  I like your post, but before you will inspire few folks to visit some cancer fighting "non-profit" venture, it is important to look at cancer further then just those companies that are fighting it (but of course would never want to end it for good - I mean after all they have a lifetime mission (and salaries to pay), right?) You see, cancer was a tiny spot on radar just 50 years ago. Or 100 even more. So the question is - what happened? Have we somehow changed overnight as a spices? No we haven't. Perhaps what we intake changed because after all cancer has to come from something - yes! our water get polluted, our food get packed with chemistry (Dupont produces your tires as well as ingredients for your breakfast bread and is more into food business than ever), and also our air got more polluted than ever. So before you feel good writing check to a non profit or think that adding a $1 to your bill in food market helps fight cancer, do any of the following: - call your local officials and complain. while your complain might be a blimp on radar, the more complains then more your officials will notices. at the end they want to know what people like/hate about their community -- not to help you, but rather to help themselves win next election. - sign petitions for better oversight into companies like Monsato who are in business to sterilize you and force your friend-farmer to suicide through dropping their attorney's fees on them. - buy a water filter but also check with your local water supply they run statistics on water pollution. make sting if they are out of chart (most counties, they are) - educate friends on food quality. Have them stop looking at price but more on ingredients. just because something is 40cents cheaper, doesnt mean its okay. - educate your friends and family on high corn fructose syrup and sugar substitutes. - promote and make your friends aware of non-gmo organic movement - research and educate yourself and your family on list of ingredients and products that EU bans. EU is the last bastion of common sense when it comes to your family's health safety but with laws like TPP in place, Monstato will be able to sue EU countries and force them to sell products with ingredients that EU had good reasons to ban in the first place.
kordless 10y ago
It's very kind of you to have such empathy for another soul. The ones that have left here likely need that empathy less than the rest of do and so death helps remind all of us to be more accepting of our fellow human in this moment. I appreciate your words here and would offer that I believe all HN posts will eventually make it through (and past) the heat death of the universe.

deleted 10y ago

[deleted]

drzaiusapelord 10y ago

>I'm crying because I feel very helpless. As a fellow human I am unable to do anything to help you. I am sorry. Although this is a poor comparison for a million reasons, I just put my beloved dog down a week ago. Helpless is the word here. Its incredible how many game-enders we casually flirt with everyday, how powerful illness can be, how illness makes us make tough decisions, how poorly we handle end of life issues, and how badly grief hits us. We purposely avoid thinking about this stuff, consider it taboo, and engage in gallow's humor for a reason. Death is difficult. It never gets easier.

pcsanwald 10y ago
I'm so sorry for your loss. I went through this 5 months ago, and it was incredibly difficult for me. I have lost many friends far too young, and the death of our pet was no less emotionally traumatic. Time does help.
chris_wot 10y ago
The affection and love you have for a member of another species is no less special than the love for one of your own species. I'm sorry for your loss. Death is indeed difficult.
snuxoll 10y ago
Pets are no less an important member of your family than a spouse, children, parents, etc. We may obtain these companions knowing full well we expect to outlive them many times over, but that doesn't mean the eventual loss impacts us less than losing any other member of our family. Never think your comparison isn't apt because it's "just a pet" :)
- waterpowder 10y ago
  Actually yes, a pet is a much less important member of your family than a spouse, children or parent.
  - asciimo 10y ago
    Indeed, that is one opinion.
  - nommm-nommm 10y ago
    That depends... Some family members are not good people... Unfortunately.

melling 10y ago

Over 500,000 people die of cancer in the US, and over 8 million worldwide. Maybe you can't do something about one particular person today but millions of more future deaths can be prevented. Some of the people here will be dying "early" deaths in 10 or 20 years. You won't be saying: "well, you've gotta go someday when you have a couple of kids", for example.

joering2 10y ago
I like your post, but before you will inspire few folks to visit some cancer fighting "non-profit" venture, it is important to look at cancer further then just those companies that are fighting it (but of course would never want to end it for good - I mean after all they have a lifetime mission (and salaries to pay), right?) You see, cancer was a tiny spot on radar just 50 years ago. Or 100 even more. So the question is - what happened? Have we somehow changed overnight as a spices? No we haven't. Perhaps what we intake changed because after all cancer has to come from something - yes! our water get polluted, our food get packed with chemistry (Dupont produces your tires as well as ingredients for your breakfast bread and is more into food business than ever), and also our air got more polluted than ever. So before you feel good writing check to a non profit or think that adding a $1 to your bill in food market helps fight cancer, do any of the following: - call your local officials and complain. while your complain might be a blimp on radar, the more complains then more your officials will notices. at the end they want to know what people like/hate about their community -- not to help you, but rather to help themselves win next election. - sign petitions for better oversight into companies like Monsato who are in business to sterilize you and force your friend-farmer to suicide through dropping their attorney's fees on them. - buy a water filter but also check with your local water supply they run statistics on water pollution. make sting if they are out of chart (most counties, they are) - educate friends on food quality. Have them stop looking at price but more on ingredients. just because something is 40cents cheaper, doesnt mean its okay. - educate your friends and family on high corn fructose syrup and sugar substitutes. - promote and make your friends aware of non-gmo organic movement - research and educate yourself and your family on list of ingredients and products that EU bans. EU is the last bastion of common sense when it comes to your family's health safety but with laws like TPP in place, Monstato will be able to sue EU countries and force them to sell products with ingredients that EU had good reasons to ban in the first place.

kordless 10y ago

It's very kind of you to have such empathy for another soul. The ones that have left here likely need that empathy less than the rest of do and so death helps remind all of us to be more accepting of our fellow human in this moment. I appreciate your words here and would offer that I believe all HN posts will eventually make it through (and past) the heat death of the universe.