Personal Thing Stolen?

[ONSLAUGHT]

It bugs me, so i was gonna put this is the hate thread, but...

1.) this goes beyond hatred. Beyond loathing. Beyond an existing word.

2.) I'm curious how many people this has happened to before, since I've found it to happen quite often. Share experiences of this. Something of your own, amongst you and your friends whether it's a joke, a style, something your own and then someone else thinks they're cool but copying it, but messing it up completely and then spreading it to everyone to become a fad and what you once treasured you now can't stand.

Everyone's got their own inside jokes. And some inside related stuff are so great that it lasts forever. Or at least it ought to.

See, it's great when others can discover the joke if it's something others can access, but generally no one discovers it. However, this is only, if known how to be used properly. Me and my friends have had something going(too inappropriate for here, nothing illegal, but generally it'd be taking ridiculous stuff and making fun of it and making references in everyday situations). Now, some little kids have picked up on it. Alright, so they pass it on to next generation what's wrong with this right?

They have no clue what they're talking about. They're making it public and rather than subtley hint it so they get the joke no one else does, it's dead obvious how to find it, and it's getting exploited. We all know what happens when things get exploited. They turn to crap. You know, like how The Dark Knight's joker was amazing at first, who didn't love it? You wanted to be him for Halloween. You got the entire costume, down to the tiniest detail, work hard to be original, and then suddenly everyone else is Joker for Halloween. Only they didn't put effort in. Teeny Bopper girls are "cool" because they have the face make up, and nothing else. Everyone's putting their own spin on it to be unique when it's resulted in everyone being a drone, clones of one another, just a fad that everyone's overusing, doing wrong, and killing the fun of what it once was.

This is the one advantage I see to Final fantasy being seen by everyone and not Chrono. Chrono is cared for and gently petted while as Final Fantasy is the dog that gets all stiffened up, worked up, and turned lifeless to win a trophy that'll rust quickly, and interest in the prize dog will vanish a week later.

So, ever had your own personal group that was stolen?

[Sajainta]

Sure, that's happened to me before.  That doesn't mean whatever you created still can't be special or treasured within your own group of friends.  Don't let some kids ruin something good that you share with your buddies.  I understand it's annoying as hell, but it's not the end of the world.

The fun will only die if you let it die.

[Lord J Esq]

I think what you're talking about is the ego deflation pressure that can occur when something which one has used previously to express their identity is taken up by others in the same fashion, or perhaps even by society as a whole for a brief while, but is interpreted or expressed differently from the way the individual had done.

Some people describe this experience in terms of a loss of individuality, but I don't see it that way. I think it results from a loss of validation. Imagine it in terms of a tangible skill: For instance, you used to be the best programmer in town, but then along came these do-it-yourself kits that greatly simplified the process, and now everyone can produce comparable applications with little or no skill. Your importance is gone. Uniqueness too--there's the individuality bit--but I think it's the importance aspect that really matters. I think that's where the frustration comes from.

I see this phenomenon as a function of the ego, and somewhat extraneous to good character. I'm susceptible to it in myself, which is why I have been undertaking a long-term project of self-improvement to reduce these pressures by expanding my appreciation. I try to sort susceptible items into one of two categories: The things that are inherently important to me for their own sake, and the things which are important only in that they can provide validation. With the former, the solution is simple: Keep it to myself. Don't put it out there for validation in the first place. With the latter, the solution is even simpler in theory, although the implementation is harder: Accept that validation is a social dimension of identity and not an internal one, and that, therefore, it should not be used as a measure of importance unless your life's ambition is celebrity.

I don't think it's as serious a problem for me as it is for you, since I wouldn't use such strong words as you're using, but I definitely have had my share of itching and glowering when other people take up that which was previously my own.

[neo-fusion]

Hmmm I understand exactly what you mean onslaught, but what I hate even more is when two of these things happen...

1. The person takes credit for what you made up... big dick move there.

2. When a certain person says something everyone laughs, but when someone else does and this could be you, everyone looks at you like what the hell is wrong with you.

I find it ridiculous how some kids are treated better than others for no reason.

[ONSLAUGHT]

neo-fusion has hit it dead on actually. It was an inside joke between me and my friends. And BOTH the little brats took credit as the originals(they've been since a few days now, we've been for about 4-5 years)AND everyone laughs with them. Problem is people will laugh with us if we do it too. We generally are nice to everyone only to get screwed over. Everyone needs a venting method, and this is ours since it's hilarious seeing people not insulted, but still completely baffled. Now that everyone knows it, we can't keep it to ourselves not to mention it was almost like a morse code for us and now if we have anything private to say but have to do it in public, privacy lost.

And knowing past situations it'll turn into the whole others laugh when others do it but when we do it won't be confusion or laughter it'll be "Oh, they're copying kids trying to be cool? They're real mature." Even though we started it.

That's the biggest thing. A good 5 year age difference is in here and yet...UGH! I dunno. Maybe it's just been today being a stressful day or what but this is bugging me an extreme amount and I can't see a solution like I usually can which bugs me just as much.

[neo-fusion]

Are you saying that the 5 year age difference is between myself and you or your friends?

Either way, I wasn't getting the whole "Oh, they're copying kids trying to be cool...." part. I was getting more of the... "We just don't like you and want to make ourselves feel better, so we will look at you like, what the hell is wrong with you."

[IAmSerge]

I know the feeling.

Theres been a meme that my social group of friends used, not one that we made up (that I know of), and it had an extremely specific meaning and usage, and then afterwards, a "rival" social group of ours has been using that meme but in such a casual sense that it makes no logical sense anymore.

But its definitley not as bad as your situation =(

[Boo the Gentleman Caller]

I'm actually quite nervous as of to what this "inside joke" is.

[Shee]

Closest that I've been involved with....picked my brother and his friends up from a bar in D.C. many many moons ago...they had had....ummmm....a few.....

It was a hilarious car ride, but one his friends kept on saying "CHHEEEEeeeeEEEEssseee..."
About a year later Old School came out and there was the "Cheese" line.  That was bout it, really.

[ONSLAUGHT]

Are you saying that the 5 year age difference is between myself and you or your friends?

Either way, I wasn't getting the whole "Oh, they're copying kids trying to be cool...." part. I was getting more of the... "We just don't like you and want to make ourselves feel better, so we will look at you like, what the hell is wrong with you."

No I was saying other will look at me and my friends and say we're copying the kids that are 5 years younger than us.

I'm actually quite nervous as of to what this "inside joke" is.

IAmSerge used a good word for it. Meme. They aren't internet sensations and stuff everyone knows but they're things we know and find as good inside jokes but just like IAmSerge's situation we had a specific thing for it and now they use it casually and they have no clue. I thought I was peeved. one of my friends who helped start these jokes is extremely upset. For me it's simply losing our fun, for him it's more along the lines of everyone obviously has their own things individuality that makes them themselves. And it seems everytime he gets some it's always been taken his whole life since middle school. Sucks for him. I mean, yeah, i hate losing our joke, but losing one of the last things that makes you individual and unique and special? Ouch. If I were him I would've snapped and made head line news.

[Temporal Knight]

Oh, I've had this happen plenty of times. In fact, I've had many expensive personal belonging stolen before, such as my Ipod and my DS.

And it pissed me off to no end, the dishonor.

However, I let it go after several days. The person who did the act, however, I will not speak to or interact with unless it is absolutely necessary that I must.