Pet Rocks

I thought it was a joke[[hottip:*:Harry explains to McGonagall why he won't be buying any familiar (pet) for Hogwarts: he fears he won't care for them properly: 'I had a pet rock once. It died', but it turns out it totally was an actual fad at some point, according to the Serious Business page. So I investigated a little...

What.

I actually think this is kind of sad...

I think it's pretty daring, really. I mean, you have to have serious guts to dare to be this nerdy. This is waaaay beyond train models...

Only in America can you actually get people to buy an ordinary rock.

Hahaha, when I was a little kid my friends and I sometimes liked to pretend to keep pet rocks. We were entertained by the irony that it was not actually a living thing. Ah, the glorious days of childhood.

It actually never occurred to me that they sold them in stores, though, or that people normally adorned them with paint or googly eyes.

edited 2nd Nov '11 1:12:50 PM by annebeeche

I'm pretty sure that this is tongue-in-cheek.

And in any case, I do not see how this is any more nerdy than, say, collecting, painting and naming Warhammer 40 K miniatures.

The age of this forum is quite apparent if nobody else here remembers the pet rock fad.

It was a 70's fad, but it was still alive and well when I was growing up where I lived.

@Barkey

Yeah, I was feeling old again about a fad I lived through the tail end of being something someone had never heard of.

How does a pet rock die? You break it or something?

Or is it that "that which does not live cannot die, and in strange eons even death may cry?"

Ah, I remember the Arthur episode of this.

Pretty much, yeah. It falls and it breaks. And it's actually your fault, for choosing a crummy rock on the first place.

edited 2nd Nov '11 4:57:31 PM by SavageHeathen

Alright, having a "pet rock" is a novelty and possibly amusing.

But paying for one? Something tells me that these people aren't very fiscally responsible... or just go way too far to please their friends and create amusement in a stupid manner.

When getting your first pet rock, you want to get one of the hardier breeds such as Basalt or granite, avoid shale, or slate until you feel have enough gentle care to avoid damaging them.

This is the one fad I never got. Pokemon, Digimon, Crazybones and so on I can somewhat understand. A pet rock? Irony only goes so far.

I don't get it. Why pay for a rock, when there are free rocks all around?

Why pay for a dog, when I can get a mangy cur from anywhere around me?

Or, Reductio Ad Absurdum, I dare you to try offering your GF a wedding ring with a rock from the street in it.

At least that rock would be free.

I remember finding Geodes as a kid on the side of the road. I was entranced when I was younger. Those rocks were far more interesting than any pet rocks. Bah, it was a stupid fad and I'm probably reading too much into it.

I don't get it. Why pay for a rock, when there are free rocks all around?

plus one

You can't get the same level of emotional attachment to a rock you buy. You need to find one in nature, preferably a young one, and adopt it, raise it to love you and trust you.

It also costs less money and you won't feel like as much of a retard.

I had a pet boulder once. My parents wouldn't let it in the house, so he lived under a tree in the front yard. I named him Sparky and spent hours talking to him. Then my parents sent me to a hospital where they put wires into my brain. After that Sparky never spoke to me again.

Should I ask that this thread be moved to Yack Fest?

...In all seriousness, the geodes would make pretty nice pet rocks. Then buy a lizard or something to sun itself atop the stone.

In all seriousness, the guys level of rock knowledge is DAMNED impressive.

In short, this is the sort of hobby i can see science nerds embracing just for the sheer awesome.

Honestly, the way he presented it, even I thought it would be fun, and I'm no aspiring geologist.