Laugh or cry ? Would this bother you?

[Andrea J.]

I follow a gentleman John Heald on FB.
He is the "brand ambassador" for Carnival Cruises.
He is a character and very funny.
John and I have corresponded over the years and I have assisted him with some of his Aruba questions that he has had in years past and he has assisted me with some difficulties re: postings and how to let the water roll off my back on this forum.


Folks complain to him all of the time about every little thing.
Stupid things, important things, things that are of little significance and huge significant issues.

Here is one of his postings today. In Bold
(BTW, Paul and I have met this lady as she was seated near us at the steakhouse a few months ago and we made a futile attempt to speak to her and invite her to sit with us............futile. She did not want our company. )

"Name: S----------
Message: I am on the ---------- with DH and two friends, We are at table 207. There is a lady across from where we are sitting. We are on early dinner and this lady has a full size teddy bear sitting across the table from her. She is ordering food for the bear. We heard her. The waiters are bringing it. We cannot believe this is allowed to happen. These are our waiters too and we would get quicker service if they did not have to waste time cutting up the bears food. John this is no joke. I asked our waiter--------about this and he just laughed it away. I took these photos. Why does Carnival allow this John.

-------

Well I have taken the ship and waiter name out of the post but I know this lady, I know her Teddy Bear as well as do some of you reading this who will have cruised with her. And I can tell you that this guest always tips the waiters extra.

Most importantly I know that having meals with her bear is a little eccentricity but that eccentricity is accompanied by a massive dollop of Loneliness.

It is unusual for sure but honestly…………….would it bother you?

Yes or no please?"

__________________________________________________ __________________________--

would it bother you?

[purpleangel]

It would not bother me at all. She and the bear are not harming anyone, could be her support bear. I give the teddy bear woman a ^5 for being herself.

[robin]

I would pass it off to each his/her own. Everyone is different and as long as it is a stuffed bear and not the real thing, it would not bother me, but it sure would prompt a lot of questions, such as, does she buy it a seat on the airplane? The bear may have some significance for her such as it was a gift from her late husband. I wonder if she ate the food or it was wasted. While it is unusual, it is not as odd as some other things I have seen or heard about, such as, the aquiance who had their cat taxidermied and it sits on the guest bed or the person who took her husband's ashes to a wedding and danced with the urn and had it on the table. Does Carnival have a group for solo travellers?

[Pegmeister]

Wouldn’t bother me at all. I probably have to stifle a chuckle though. People have their quirks and if this bear gives the woman comfort then why would anyone care?

[WaltVB]

I have seen many similar things in my travels. I would buy her and the bear a glass of wine.

[jao622]

I used to read his blog all the time, funny, funny. No wouldn't bother me. It would make me sad.

[SusieLovesAruba]

It would not bother me at all - different strokes for different folks.

[Aruba4ever]

It would not make me mad in the least. I would feel bad for her for sure. In my experience when people do things like this being "themselves" sadly something is often missing or went horribly wrong to have them acting out in this way.

[oneil1343]

This would not bother us, we probably would get a kick out of it. When my parents where placed in a nursing home they had to give up there dog. They had been married for 60 years and always had a dog. We bought them a large stand-up stuffed dog. That stuffed animal was the light of many residents of the home. We found out many of them had to give up their dogs. They would stop by daily to pet the stuff dog and talk to it. I much prefer having the person in the next table enjoying their life then complaining about the food and service, which we have seen on several cruises. How nice of Carnival to let her enjoy life!

[stoney4555]

It wouldn’t bother me as I have a few bears that are special to me. My Mom bought me a Steiff bear when she was in Germany. My MIL gave me the bear my husband had as a baby. I have to laugh though about this bear. When you say full-size I think about the bear I saw before Christmas. It had to be at least 5ft. tall. My husband saw me staring at it and he said,”don’t even think about it”! If it’s that big how does she travel with it? Does she buy it a plane ticket?