Ignorance. Rant

I'm preferring to put this here because I need the maturity of adults right now. Thank you.

Ignorance

One word, and I think everyone knows what I'm talking about, no matter what form of it we see.

I'm currently on a website, a forum based site about bettas. I've been a part of the userbase for about 6 months now. I can say that the users there are very friendly and resourceful. Unlike most betta owners, I did lots of research before getting my fish and therefore I knew what size tank he needed, the food, and how many cleanings he needed for his tank size.

WELL.

In the last week, I've come across the most ignorant people in the world. One of them HAD to have been a child with how she spoke, and how she addressed her parents (went on a few "I hate my parents" rants because they didn't let her do things). Now, I don't mind chidren, I have 3 younger siblings of my own and they already give me enough stress. So it's easy for me to talk to children online because I can walk away when they start becoming trolls or just plain rude. But this one, WOW, I honestly couldn't even begin to tell you the rage I felt.

She was telling us she wanted a new betta after her old one died (after having it for a short time). She then proceeds to tell us she has the fish in a .5 gallon tank. One of the "unwritten rules" of the site is to never mention you have a tank under 2 gallons, especially if you aren't willing to do ALL the necessary cleanings a .5 gallon needs. So we tell her, VERY nicely, (and I think most users on the site know how nice I can be towards people) that she needs a bigger tank to put the new fish in. The tank also needs to be cleaned everyday if she keeps it in the .5 gallon, which is perfectly okay.

Now at this point, I was hoping for a "oh, I didn't know that, thanks!" But noooooo instead, we get "Wow, thanks for being rude! I was asking about a new fish, not advice on how to take care of my tank. Besides, I can't even do that. No one will help me clean the tank, and I hate my parents because I can't use warm water to clean it."

So we told her we were sorry, but she just kept on going about how rude we were, and about how all the other users on the site were rude and intrusive and didn't care for others. At that point, I was taken aback. Most of the users on the site regularly have been a part of there forum for a very long time, and there are even veteranarians who help. To think that these people were HELPING others, WOW, how dare them!

You may say that we were in the wrong, but for me and others on that site, bettas hold a place in our heart, the same as dogs. It's the equivalent of saying "oh, well my Great Dane died, and he lived in a 10x10 room. But I want to buy another Great Dane. What color should I get?" Of course people are going to react.

Maybe I'm being ignorant because I'm not accepting the fact that people don't want to learn. Don't want to be told how to make their pet happy. Don't want to know how to take care of their pet. But hey, you joined a betta website to HELP you. Why the HELL would you even think about asking for help when you don't want it?

And for the sake of keeping me sane, PLEASE, once again understand. These fish are basically the equivalent of a dog for me. Buddha holds a VERY special place in my heart, and that's saying something considering I used to LOATHE fish.

I guess, people just want to keep bettas as decorations without realizing that they are animals and pets and should be treated as so :(