An Interview with a Disgruntled Petpet

     On the precipice of this potential economic disaster, I was able to sit down with one of these disgruntled petpets and his neopet. Skar, a Mutant Zomutt, and his Halloween Lupe owner, Fang, are joining me for this interview.

      Interviewer (I): Thank you for joining me today Skar and Fang. I know there is a lot to unpack, Skar. And I understand you might be caught off-guard by a lot of this, Fang.

      Skar (S): It is about time we talk about the plight of the petpets and how underappreciated we are by our neopets and their owners.

      Fang (F): I honestly had no idea he was feeling this way.

     S: Of course you didn’t, no one bothers to ask me how I’m feeling when you all want some random item in some scary, dark hole.

     I: So Skar, tell us what issues you and the other petpets have.

     S: First of all, let’s talk about all the weird places we get sent to daily. We would not mind as much if we were given more appreciation and maybe a reward here and there. But no one ever says thank you and it is just expected of us every day to go into these scary, dark places.

     F: Well, wait a minute, I thought you had fun going into places like the Symol hole!

     S: No. You assume I have fun. You use the same old line every day, “Wasn’t that fun? Maybe you can do the same tomorrow!” Well, I’ve got news for you, pal. No, it isn’t fun and no I don’t want to do the same tomorrow. There is never “Thank you Skar for trying to rob the Symol of his precious items!” or “Are you okay, Skar? Was it scary for you down there?” No appreciation whatsoever.

     F: I – I didn’t know… I thought, well I –

     S: Exactly. You never truly stop and ask me how I feel about these things. You know what else is scary for us to do every day? Getting sent down into the catacombs for a daily literally called “Grave Danger.” We spend hours at a time wandering around, bumping into cultists, fighting off ghosts, and getting chased by meepits, just to find a book or an instrument for you guys.

     F: But you guys seem to enjoy adventures down there…

     S: There you go again, assuming we enjoy these tasks for you.

     I: It seems like there is a disconnect here. Neopets and owners alike believe petpets enjoy doing these tasks, but it appears that no one actually asks you how you feel about it? Is that correct, Skar?

     S: That is exactly it.

     I: I am sorry that we all have oblivious to your feelings and not understanding about how exhausting it must be to venture into all these deep, spooky places every day. I want you to know that we appreciate your hard work and all these items you find for us on a daily basis, even if it is unspoken at times.

     S: Well, thank you for your apology and appreciation. That’s all we are really asking for.

     I: Are there any other issues that the petpets would like bring up?

     S: Yes, there are a few other daily activities we also have problems with. First of all, why do our owners bring us to the Turmaculus to literally risk our lives for a meagre neopoint reward or item reward? Some actually WANT the Turmaculus to eat us just to get some avatar. How is that okay?

     F: Hold up, I have never made you go to the Turmaculus! You are my buddy and too valuable to me to risk your life.

     S: I am not saying you specifically, but I have witnessed other petpets getting eaten or being forced to wake up the Turmaculus.

     I: I see. That does seem unfair to make you all risk your lives for something seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

     S: You know what else we have to do to risk our lives? Get zapped by the Petpet Lab Ray.

     F: Well, neopets get zapped by the Secret Lab Ray daily as well so it is not exclusive to petpets.

     S: You know what is exclusive to petpets? The risk of turning into a pile of ash or disappearing forever when getting zapped. There is zero risk of that happening for you guys when getting zapped by your lab ray!

     I: He does bring up a good point, Fang. Your lab rays were not created equal.

     F: Okay, fine.

     S: The last thing I would like to bring up is the Petpet Battledome. We are forced to fight each other with no rewards.

     F: Neopets are forced to battle as well!

     S: But again, you all are rewarded for it and get all this glory when you win. Also, neopets get training prior to fighting and are armed with all these fancy weapons and armour. Petpets get zilch. No training. No fancy weapons. We just get thrown into an arena and asked to fight for entertainment.

     I: That does seem unfair to you all… It is something that Neopians do not really think about and we really should talk about reform when it comes to petpet battles and amenities in general. Thank you for bringing all of this to our attention, Skar.

     S: I am glad I was able to have a platform to speak today about our struggles and why we will be unionizing and protesting. Perhaps we can enact some real changes to make our lives better.

     I: What can we do right now to at least prevent the petpets from going on strike and still help us with our dailies? I think Neopians are concerned about this from an economic standpoint.

     S: It is not that we are totally unwilling to do our daily jump into the Symol Hole or hike through the catacombs of Neovia… it is the fact that we do not get appreciation for it. I think we could hold off on a strike if we simply received more appreciation and if there was more awareness for our well-being. A nice treat or reward here and there wouldn’t be a bad idea either…

     I: I see. I think we all would be willing to show more gratitude because we truly do appreciate you guys. I hope I can speak for all of us Neopians when I say this. What do you think, Fang, hearing this from your petpet?

     F: I understand where he and his fellow petpets are coming from. I do want to apologize for making you feel underappreciated or that I did not care how you felt. You are my little buddy and I am so grateful for all the things you help me with every day. I will do better going forward and help you impact change on the welfare of petpets, Skar.

     S: Thank you, that is all I can ask of you right now.

     I: Well, I think this concludes a very enlightening interview. Thank you so much Skar and Fang for joining us and being so candid and honest in answering all my questions.

     At this time, the petpets have formed a union and rumours of protests and strikes still persist, but might be quelled by more appreciation and acknowledgement from neopets and Neopians. Stay tuned for more updates on the plight of the petpets.