Over this Twitter message?

[Meh84]

It was my Nan's funeral yesterday, it was a lovely service and we went all out at the wake to celebrate her life, lots of people there, music, good food etc.

My dad and his brothers organised a balloon release, everyone wrote a message and attached it, and then we let them of together. It was such a beautiful sight and very emotional.

So last night I wrote on Twitter about said release and how Nan would've loved the music and celebrations.

I woke this morning to someone telling me off for littering and about how much wildlife would suffer because of it.

I got angry and wrote a response back, asking him politely to fuck off.

Were we being inreasonable to do this balloon release? I was thinking more of my poor nan and not any wildlife!

It's still very raw this morning, and it seems he targets anyone who writes balloon release in their tweets and gives them a lecture with no regards as to what the realease meant to the people who have done it.

Sorry about your nan.

This is tough - yes, it's true that balloon releases are harmful to wildlife, and presumably this person feels passionate about spreading awareness, but his timing was awful.

I absolutely get where he was coming from, but you're right. I feel his timing was awful which made me react the way I did.

It's put me in such a bad mood

I am sorry for your loss. Though I wouldn't have put it in twitter I agree that we shouldn't do balloon releases due to the impact on our wildlife. I feel the same about Chinese lanterns.

But that's the nature of Twitter isn't it - people who follow you on Twitter aren't all going to agree with you. I have a thousand-odd followers, of which I only know about a tenth personally. They're not all going to be concerned about my feelings.

Furthermore, this bloke is quite right about the environmental impact of balloon releases, and is well within his rights to raise awareness of this.

I can understand why you're hurt, but this is an expected outcome of broadcasting personal experiences to the world.

I also hate balloon releases and Chinese lanterns, there are lots of ways to remember and pay tribute to loved ones without putting local wildlife in danger

So yes YWBU to do a balloon release

I have to agree with the sentiment if not the timing

Don't put all your life details on Twitter if you don't want to invite comment

His timing was bad, but his message was correct.

I'm sorry for your loss.

I

The thing is he's not following me or vice versa!

What's twitter for then if I can tell my actual followers what type of day I've had? Works the same way as Facebook surely?

Anyway, he's also just pointed out that the valuable helium we've used up

Well, helium is used in medicine and the world has a limited supply of it, so it is wasteful to use it in balloons.

If your twitter isn't locked, anyone can search for key words etc - I'm guessing that's what he does to try and raise awareness.

And to echo everyone else - his timing sucks, but balloon releases are so bad for wildlife :-(

How do you politely tell people to fuck off?

Anyway, I would ignore him now. Maybe say you understand and respect his right to his opinion and would ask that he offer you the same courtesy, or something. Or just ignore.

The helium used in balloons is a waste by product and not useful for anything else - I'm pretty certain there's a thread that ended up in Classics 'debating' that one!
So sorry about your Nan

Well...we did it! Nothing I can do about it now! As for the helium comment that's ridiculous imo

I was being sarcastic Fairenuff

Sorry to derail slightly but it that true that the helium for balloons is a waste product? I stopped getting them when I found out there was a limited supply and it was needed for all these important things.

I just did a quick search on twitter and found the guy you're talking about I think, and he does seem to be quite passionate about this subject and replies to lots of people talking about balloon releases, so try not to take bit personally!

I agree that putting the details of your life out on public social media risks getting comments or opinions you're not happy with. It's the nature of the beast. Just as using AIBU is.

for your nan.

My Twitter is public because I use it as a vehicle to raise my professional profile. If you want to use yours for private and personal stuff you should perhaps not have a public profile. I think he probably uses Twitter to raise awareness of issues important to him but he wouldn't have been able to respond to you if your tweets had been protected.

I've seen that he's done it to a fair amount of people. Like I say, I understand but his timing is so shit. What if he says that to others who have lost parents/children?

Its quite true about the helium and not a ridiculous comment at all.

his timing was awful though, but he is obviously very passionate about the subject (and rightly so imo).

so sorry about your nan.

I think I'll make my account secure! I didn't think about the randoms that could tweet me until today!

No it isn't true about the helium. The helium in balloons is not fit for anything else.

He probably could have better timed it OP but tbh that isn't something I would have put on the Internet. If you put something on twitter or Facebook etc you're inviting response... If all you want back is fluff then it's probably best to not put it on.