pokey

pokey is this cute little virtual yellow lab puppy you can adopt on facebook. he looks just like a real puppy. he has all the mannerisms and facial expressions. he bounces around and wags his tail when you are about to feed him. he rolls over and exudes puppy happiness when you scratch his belly. he bounds after a virtual frisbee (much more enthusiastically than my real dog!) and comes running back so proud of himself when he catches it. he lays down and looks sad but patient when you're about to "leave" him. when you haven't "fed" him for a few days he looks tired and dehydrated when you click open the program. and his eyes have that combination of sadness, hope, and pure puppy gratefulness that you haven't actually abandoned him. whoever created this program is twisted! all it does is create guilt! when i play with him too much, i feel guilty for goofing off at work. when i don't play with him enough, i feel like a bad mama! as if it were really otis giving me that "why-haven't-you-fed-me-in-15-days-but-thank-god-you're-back-i-love-you" look. it's terrible! and worse still, you get roped in to taking care of other people's virtual dogs. if a dog has been neglected for however many days, they go on a list. you can feed them with your own dog's virtual dog food, which will earn you bones (the currency to buy more dog food and toys and stuff) and make you feel like somehow you have done something good. but you really haven't!! it's not a real dog!!! someone must be tracking this somewhere, like some psychological experiment on the capacity of a simple computer program to manipulate human emotions. i almost want to delete pokey, but then i will feel as if i've put my dog to sleep! this is sick.