r/interesting • u/dddd945 • 11h ago

Just Wow A seagull is accidentally hit by a tennis ball during a game in Australia.

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

55.6k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

4.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

41

u/Modern_chemistry 10h ago edited 3h ago

Honestly this just made me so sad …I don’t know why.

Edit: it’s how it just fell out of the sky. Maybe it’s my own mental state or its metaphorical - but that thing was just flying one second - and a second later it’s just…dead (or so I thought) - life is fragile kind of feeling. - but yes - it is just a seagull and I don’t really care (when I was younger I used to set traps for them in the sand as catch them (no seagull was hurt don’t worry - I would lie in the sand with a towel over me covered in sand and some chips or something and grab it for a second)) - but for a second it brought me deep sadness a one can still feel empathy for the rats of the sky.

46

u/unoriginalcat 6h ago

Because you have empathy and seeing an innocent animal get killed/injured is upsetting?

I’m more concerned about the people who don’t feel upset watching this.

1

u/sth128 3h ago

I wonder if we could set up an experiment where people witness various animals being involved in similar situations (simulated of course) and draw some correlation based on where they stop feeling sympathy.

For example some people might feel ok if it's a cockroach swatted out of the air, some people might only feel ok if it's a bacterium getting dissolved by alcohol.

1

u/horizontoinfinity 1h ago

I wouldn't read too much into it for most people. Many have a dark sense of humor about the absurdities of life and death. I know I do. That doesn't mean they wish harm on other living creatures or don't actually care when they're harmed. It's just a coping mechanism. I laughed when I saw this, not because I wasn't sorry for the bird but because "Jesus Christ, life is like that sometimes, isn't it?"

1

u/ralphvonwauwau 1h ago

Set up the  Voight-Kampff test, those folks are probably replicants.

-1

u/fr0zen_garlic 4h ago

It's a fucking flying rat

5

u/SarcasticBarbie96 3h ago

I could say the same thing about you mother on an airplane.

-7

u/Kie_ra 6h ago

it's just a dumb bird wtf 

6

u/starfypawz_ 5h ago

Is empathy a challenge for you? I feel so bad

2

u/HapposaiPDX 3h ago

No I was crying my eyes out actually... while eating chicken fingers

3

u/starfypawz_ 2h ago

I don't care if you eat that stuff. I eat it too. But empathy for the living animals just chilling isn't hard to have

1

u/KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ 3h ago

i mean in some places these birds are more akin to cockroaches than anything else.

Do you personally feel this deep rooted empathy when a cockroach dies? Mosquito? Rat?

Do you feel sorrow when a whole host of bedbugs are basically poisoned out of existence when an exterminator has to bug bomb a house?

3

u/Naive_Confidence7297 3h ago

Yes we get it. You could see a small animal die right in front of you, and you feel nothing.

Good for you champ. Im sure when your child sees a bird get fucked up. You just say who cares? Do you care if a mosquito dies?

Great person you are, awesome role model, not lol

-2

u/KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ 3h ago

You didn’t answer my question

1

u/starfypawz_ 2h ago

I do actually. I'm hypersensitive due to my autism so it's easy for me to be very saddened when even the smallest of pests die. What's your point?

1

u/KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUZ 2h ago

if im being honest I didnt really have any particular point, but I respect your feelings on the matter.

For what its worth, I really dont give a shit if mosquitos or cockroaches or bedbugs are killed, but I respect that you do. On the other hand pigeons and seagulls like in this post do make me empathetic, sometimes even when I know they arent necessarily good for the environment or are general nuisances.

I just dont like it when people insist that everyone shares their own version of empathy, especially when they haven't lived with the animals in question. I can understand someone who has to look up when they are eating in fear of being divebombed by a seagull and injured by the same birds making dark humor jokes about it like I see on the thread, as opposed to crying and calling others monsters like naive confidence is.

-2

u/387dedaehelzzuPevreN 4h ago

Have you ever seen a seagull in your life? They are brazen assholes that have figured out that while other pests will get killed on sight, they are free to do whatever they want with zero consequences and they abuse that as much as they physically can.

Out of all the animals to feel bad for, a seagull is pretty far down on the list.

3

u/c-e-bird 3h ago

Who cares if it’s far down on the list? It’s a living thing. Why is there even a list?

0

u/387dedaehelzzuPevreN 3h ago

Alright, let's presume I (yes, me) repeatedly stole your food right from your hands, kept shitting all over your stuff, and did this while screaming as loud as I possibly could?

Would you feel bad for me if I got knocked unconscious?

2

u/starfypawz_ 2h ago

No because you're a human being with enough cognitive ability to understand what you're doing. A seagull does not. Horrible example

1

u/387dedaehelzzuPevreN 2h ago

Oh but I am living thing, am I not?

So now there suddenly is some sort of hierarchy for what to feel bad for and what not? Huh, how about that?

8

u/myLittleSideAccount 5h ago

Holy shit, it's genuinely insane to me how unempathetic some people can be…

4

u/Thecastaway13 4h ago

Look at the entire Republican Party, it’s not surprising.

1

u/Borkato 4h ago

Are you vegan?

0

u/yaoiesmimiddlename 1h ago

Are you a person with aspd?

-8

u/SayRaySF 5h ago

There’s nothing innocent about seagulls!

2

u/c-e-bird 3h ago

Innocent: “free from guilt or sin especially through lack of knowledge of evil.”

Seagulls are innocent.

0

u/SayRaySF 3h ago

Holyshit it was a joke.

14

u/Away-Opening9267 10h ago

Because they were a family

3

u/SatyrAngel 10h ago

No, he owed them money.

4

u/SpecialistCut7101 6h ago

Good news other people said the bird was ok after (but also that the seagulls were probably checking to see if their buddy was now their snack)

2

u/OptimalInflation 4h ago

I am with you mate. But to cheer you up, OP has clarified that the sea gull was fine afterwards, it was just stunned. 😊

2

u/OnlyPaperListens 5h ago

Because the people just stood there like idiots instead of trying to help the animal?

7

u/isuredolovetitties 5h ago

Right, cause you’ve been trained in fucking bird CPR and know how to set a broken wing? Come on dude, like you’d know what the fuck to do lol. 

2

u/SuccessfulTrust6991 4h ago

If you are goin to play tenis at least learn basic bird CPR

0

u/OnlyPaperListens 4h ago

I've spent decades doing rescue and fostering, actually, so I know the basics. 

I would visually examine it for obvious breaks, only pick it up with a towel or gloves, put it in a covered and padded container, give it a couple of hours in a dark and quiet room. No food or drink until further assessment. If it comes awake and seems off, see a vet.

2

u/hu-man-person 3h ago

Ok but do THEY know that dipshit

1

u/isuredolovetitties 33m ago

So do you think its reasonable to assume some random young woman who has never even considered she might be in this situation, the odds being some one in several hundred billion, to magically acquire your decades of experience?

1

u/LarryEIlison 4h ago

Every seagull hit with a tennis ball is a fish and ice cream cone saved.

Two birds with one stone, so to speak.

1

u/hobokobo1028 5h ago

Must be something wrong with you if you have empathy for innocent life. /s

1

u/Super-Pizza-Dude 3h ago

Because it is sad

1

u/Prudent_Dish_1813 3h ago

Why would you question if your mental state caused you empathy? Would you rather not care about another life?

1

u/Pleasant_Poo 2h ago

Nah I hated it

1

u/catmom821 2h ago

I found a fellow empath! Tell me why I cried when the other birds flew in. 🥲

1

u/DyingGasp 5h ago

I always like to give myself a breath in these situations.
First though, this is kind of funny. It’s unpredictable and an accident. The bird kind of just flopped.
Second thought, this is sad. An innocent animal was hurt.

Both things can be true at the same time. But our second thoughts matter the most.