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A couple of months ago, lazily thumbing through my Girl's Life Magazine, I came
upon a brief article about a website called Whyville. It looked interesting, and
it was free, so I decided to check it out. After creating an account, I spent
several hours trying to figure it out. (How do I raise my salary, where do I find face parts, etc. etc.) Several pitfalls and many weeks later,
I have come
a long way. I am a currently a Club Why member, the SmartCars #1 racer, and a
Times Writer. I have an online boyfriend, a store, and a high salary. But as
much as I love Whyville, IT IS NOT MY LIFE. My mission here today is
surprisingly not to brag myself. It is to convince people to LIGHTEN UP.
There are many issues that I think should be taken seriously in life. But an
online educational website is not one of them. Yes, it is entertaining, it is
addicting, it is thought-provoking. But it is not life. So why do people get so
worked up about it? Some people act as though Whyville is the most important thing there
is. They sacrifice their friendships, grades, and sleep for it. I think that as
a whole, we need to realize that although Whyville is great, it is not the whole
world. Too much of a good thing can be bad.
Many people do understand that Whyville is just a game. But others don't, and
they make that clear. Today I am going to discuss three kinds of people who have
taken this online world a little too far: the righteous ones, the haters, and
the controllers.
Righteous ones think that they deserve to be able to do everything on Whyville
all the time. They write angry letters voicing complaints such as "WE SHOULD BE
ABLE TO LEARN DANCES EVEN IF MIMI IS ON VACATION" or "WHY IS GRENOUILLE ALWAYS
ON VACATION?" Don't these people realize that Mimi and Bob aren't real? Don't
they realize that our city workers are only trying to entertain us with their
stories of Mimi enjoying her cheese and wine or Grenouille sneaking off to take
a little unexcused leave? Would they really rather read a message saying
"Whyville is currently broke, because you are all too stingy to send in five
bucks for a Whypass, so we can't fix these things"? No, I don't think so.
Then there are the haters. Haters like to go around telling everyone else that
they are stupid, unattractive, and smelly. I know I've gotten it. "No offense,
but you're really ugly" a girl once said to me. I just laughed. On Whyville, I'm
a virtual person. Why should I care what anyone thinks of my looks? Why should I care if anyone think I'm an idiot? Why should
I care if anyone thinks I smell?
For all of you who have been hurt by haters, let me just remind you: They don't
know a single thing about you. So don't let them cut you down.
Finally there are the controllers. People who feel angry about what everyone
else is doing. They say things like, "People are getting married on Whyville.
This is horrible. Whyville isn't real!" Let me tell you, it's all in good fun!
Nothing to get upset about. For example, I have an online boyfriend. You may
judge me by this, say I am stupid, shallow, whatever. You may say that I have
never met my boyfriend, that we can't actually go on dates, that I don't know
him at all. This is true. So why do I have a boyfriend? Because it's fun! It's
nice to have someone write you ymails entitled "Hey babe", to have someone send
you presents, someone blow you online kisses. Having a boyfriend makes me feel a
little more desired. But I know its all just a game, a joke, a childish
amusement.
So to the few of you who actually made it to the end of my article, my point is
LIGHTEN UP!!!! Whyville is a fun and educational game where you can learn and
make new friends. It is nothing to get worked up about. I mean in fifty years,
is it really going to matter that Akbar took your face parts? No. So don't worry
about it. Remember that your priorities are your friends, family, and future.
Put your energies into what is truly important and I guarantee you will feel
more satisfied with your life.
JasmineK, signing off.
P.S. I am extremely sorry if I offended anybody. But if I did, and you decide to
send me a rude letter saying that I'm stupid or ugly, just know that I won't be
offended. You don't know me, so you can't hurt me. For all you know, I'm an
eighty-year old Russian man trying to amuse himself at his nursing home...
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