Unhappily Ever After

How would you feel if your child worked on a project for school, or wrote an essay and another kid came along and copied his idea, or stole his work?


How would you feel if you had a neighbor that copied every single thing you did in your garden or in your landscaping projects? I have a neighbor like that and it pisses me off like you can't possibly imagine. She copies everything, even the colors of the plants or flowers. There are hundreds of choices of plants and trees out there, why copy your next door neighbor? It's sick! Naturally, it affected our friendship and I don't talk to her anymore, or want anything to do with her. Why should I ? My house was built first. I was here before she was and my landscaping was in place before her house was even built!


What about this... How would you feel if your friend came over to your house and stole your ideas and then decorated her own house the same way you did, or used the same party theme that you did? I don't know about you, but I wouldn't consider that a friend, and I would feel either hurt, betrayed, or one could even feel violated, depending on the circumstances and the intent. It may seem pretty innocent, but how many people have had to go to jail or have been sued for millions for stealing someone else's ideas, pictures, songs, or writings.


Stealing is stealing, whether it's stealing someone's idea, their work, their notes, their wallet, or their car. It's wrong and it usually leads to more dishonesty. So many people go to a fast food restaurant and ask for a cup for water, but then help themselves to the soda instead. I don't care what anyone says, too me that is also stealing, and it pisses me off to see it done. Don't do that shit in front of me, because I WILL open my mouth. It's the same thing as going to Walmart and walking out the door with a bottle of soda that you haven't paid for. Stealing is stealing, no matter what the value is. Where do we draw the line? What will it take to get people to do the right thing? What you do when you "think" no one is watching is what shows your true character, the kind of person that you really are and the kind of heart that you have.


So what is this about? Well, it's nothing major, and some of you might feel that it's not even worth mentioning, but the fact that it's bothering me, makes it worth mentioning because it's the principal that matters and there is a point that has to be made. See this Trick or Treat through J'Land sign. It's mine. MINE. I took the time to make it, and to try different fonts and font sizes until I got it just the way I liked it. It was MY idea. I thought of it and I made it for MY journal, yet someone decided they would help themselves to it and STOLE it from ME. Then of course what happens is that someone else will come along and steal it from that person, and so on... I made this banner to use in MY JOURNAL when I made MY Trick or Treat through J'Land entry, to go with the graphic that I used which was made for me by Heather months ago. She used the color red in my name, which is why I used red for the flashing. That's my style, it's the way I do things. I like to coordinate everything based on how I'm feeling at that moment. (you should see my house and my lingerie!) Imagine my surprise when I'm going around checking out journals that have been nominated, as well as others, and the sign that I took the time to make for MY JOURNAL is all over J'Land. WTF?!? And the worse thing is that those people never even bothered to leave me a comment, not even a tiny little "hello," they just came to my journal to steal, that's it! When the FUCK did it become OK to come to someone's journal and steal from it? That is so pathetic! Do you not have a mind of your own to think with? Are you not capable of coming up with your own ideas? There are hundreds of sites online that offer free graphics, and as a matter of fact, the Halloween graphics I used here today came from such sites. The graphics are there for the public. I have my favorite ones listed in my sidebar, there is no reason to go around stealing from other journals without knowing if credit is due to someone.


I left a comment at one of the journals that had my sign, and that lady was decent enough to email me and apologize for it. She was very sweet and explained that she thought it was a "J'Land" thing that was offered, and she linked it back to my journal. Lots of people don't think twice before they snag, they just see something they like and take it. So it's just a flashing banner, what's the big deal if there was no harm done. The big deal is that this is MY JOURNAL. This is where I express myself. My entries are about who I am, how I'm feeling, what I'm thinking, and however I decide to decorate or dress up my journal is a reflection of ME, and what is going on in my mind at that time. This is who I am. It's how I do things, it's my style, my personality, my ideas, it's ME, so you see... it's about more than just a snagged graphic. It goes beyond that. It's stealing originality and stealing a piece of ME, without MY consent. It's taking something that I took the time to coordinate either with colors or moods, and then sticking it somewhere else where it doesn't even belong, where it doesn't match with anything or even go with the rest of it.


I know very well that it's something that can't be avoided, and it's a losing battle, which is why I also have private journals, but why not do things the right way and ask if it's OK? Or mention it in a comment and say, "hey, I snagged this..." It's not a big deal, and so many people do that already! It's called common courtesy, and it's the way it should be done. It feels great when someone cares enough to do that and show you some courtesy. I share graphics with a lot of my friends, whether I make them myself, or find them online on sites that have them for snagging. I don't mind doing it or helping out, but please don't assume that it's OK tohelp yourself to someone else's journal, unless the journal owner states on there that  it's OK. Go check out the hundreds of sites that offer snaggable graphics, and tags, instead of going shopping through J-Land for stuff to snag. I just feel that it's so sad when someone doesn't have enough confidence in themselves to put their mind to work and try to come up with their own ideas and try to be original. If you would dedicate the same amount of time that it takes you to go around snagging graphics to try to come up with your own ideas, you'd be pleasantly surprised at what you could come up with.


This is not just about my J'Land banner. I use a lot of different graphics, and I give credit where it's due, if I know who the artist is. If I use linkware, I provide the link back, which is required by the sites that provide the linkware graphics. I also have those sites listed under the favorite sites section in my sidebar, and I'm always updating it. By coming to my journal to take stuff without asking, and then using them without giving proper credit where it's due for the graphics is just wrong! The people that create those graphics deserve to get credit for their work, and the purpose of them offering free linkware is to bring traffic to their site where they also have graphics FOR SALE. And let's not forget the fact that it costs money to maintain those sites, so whether you want to see it or not, someone is being robbed and cheated of recognition and profit for their work. Like I said before, stealing is stealing, no matter how you do it!


And while I'm on the subject of doing the right thing, and giving credit where it's due, we have a bunch of talented ladies here that offer tags for us to use in our journals, and I see so many journals that don't bother to give credit to them for their work. You may feel that it's not necessary because we all know who these ladies are, but if someone from outside of J'Land sees those graphics, and would like to recognize them for their work, they might not be able to do so if they don't know where the tags came from. I know ofone person who can't even get the names right. I'm sorry, but in my opinion, if you're going to use a tag that was made for you, with YOUR name on it, the least you can do is get THEIR NAME right and give them credit for it! 



  


Thanks to Terry Ann, A Girl Nexdoor Creation for my tag.