Should I have said something? it really wasnt my place..

[Friendlyfishies]

yesterday i was at a petstore getting some plants and i saw a family there a gram, mom and 2 very young children...they were completely ignorant to the poor fish...they already have a betta apparently and were trying to get a platy to go in the tank with the betta...the store employee told them it wasnt a good idea...he tried to explain to them that the betta might hurt the platy...they just rolled their eyes and complained about having to listen to his speach about fish for 10 minutes...the gram said "just pick a bleep fish already, this is taking too long" Then the mom said how about a goldfish? The employee said "if you really want to put a fish in with the betta i guess a goldfish would be a safer choice since its bigger" so they picked a gold fish. Then they wanted to add a sucker fish to the bunch and this all in a small betta bowl from what they explained...I just dont get it?? The employee tried telling them its not a good idea and they just dont listen...then on the way out the gram said "great $10 for a fish were going to end up flushing" I wanted to say something SOOOOOO SOOOOO SOOOOO BAD! but it wasnt my place...now i feel terrible..should I have said something or minded my business? I cant help but thing of the poor fish today, its really weighing on my mind.

[KevinPham123]

Plain hard proof that there will always be ignorant people in this world

[registereduser]

Originally Posted by Friendlyfishies

yesterday i was at a petstore getting some plants and i saw a family there a gram, mom and 2 very young children...they were completely ignorant to the poor fish...they already have a betta apparently and were trying to get a platy to go in the tank with the betta...the store employee told them it wasnt a good idea...he tried to explain to them that the betta might hurt the platy...they just rolled their eyes and complained about having to listen to his speach about fish for 10 minutes...the gram said "just pick a bleep fish already, this is taking too long" Then the mom said how about a goldfish? The employee said "if you really want to put a fish in with the betta i guess a goldfish would be a safer choice since its bigger" so they picked a gold fish. Then they wanted to add a sucker fish to the bunch and this all in a small betta bowl from what they explained...I just dont get it?? The employee tried telling them its not a good idea and they just dont listen...then on the way out the gram said "great $10 for a fish were going to end up flushing" I wanted to say something SOOOOOO SOOOOO SOOOOO BAD! but it wasnt my place...now i feel terrible..should I have said something or minded my business? I cant help but thing of the poor fish today, its really weighing on my mind.

If the employee couldn't get anywhere with her there is nothing you could have said or done that would have changed that old cow's mind.

[Laki]

It's true. And you might not be there next time when they come back looking for more fish because these ones are dead. It won't take long for these ones to die a miserable death, hopefully we can cross our fingers that this mass death load changes their mind ("10$ for a fish that just up and died? No way we're no getting more") that's how I ended up with my new tank, the kid selling it said her fish died and her mom said no more. For parents buying the fish they soon tire of it if the fish keep dying.
It's a harsh lesson for the poor fish. The finality of death. SO cruel.

[Goldie2nd]

Well I still have hope for My soon to own Bettas but no more cummunity tanks! I can't keep those up. Sadly a hard truth I learned and I hate it and I;m angry at bot myself and walmart for selling such sick fish.

[aokashi]

You're ok. those people are the ones who will never listen to anyone else's opinions but their own.
And when a fish dies onthem they will blame anyone and anything but themselves.
There are just some of those people in this world who is best ignored

[Laki]

Yes, Goldie2nd, you are here to learn and you are taking advice from people here. There are others who think they're right and come here to tell US that WE'RE wrong!! lololo. There is such thing as pride and there is such thing as humble pride. You are a proud pet parent, but you are willing to make changes and improve your fishkeeping. WalMart is at fault here because they keep supplying fish but people keep buying them which feeds the cycle. I' sure there are tonnes of fish that can be saved from WM but they need to be quarentined before being introduced to a proper tank at home. :)
eta= everybody can always improve.

[Kitty Whiskers]

Ugh .....people like that frustrate me so much!

[tpocicat]

On the hopeful side, my daughter saw a woman thinking about buying a baby betta. My daughter told her how important it is to keep them in clean warm water and that the food had to be small enough to fit their tiny mouth. She also told her what we feed our fry just in case. The woman decided not to buy the baby betta, because she realize how much work it would be.
Some people will listen.

[KevinPham123]

Originally Posted by tpocicat

On the hopeful side, my daughter saw a woman thinking about buying a baby betta. My daughter told her how important it is to keep them in clean warm water and that the food had to be small enough to fit their tiny mouth. She also told her what we feed our fry just in case. The woman decided not to buy the baby betta, because she realize how much work it would be.
Some people will listen.

for you daughter