Roger Feltieman: The FA's Not-So-Anonymous Founder Speaks Out

Felties Anonymous, a new support group dedicated to providing human-dependent Felties a safe haven for therapeutic discussion, held its first official meeting yesterday at the Feltie Embassy in Eugene, OR (USA, Earth). I sat down with founder Roger Feltieman, a long-time Feltie rights activist, to discuss his new program.

Ironically, it was R. Feltieman's desire to help others that led him to start FA, where the Felties' problems generally revolve around their over-eagerness to solve humans' problems. "So many Felties contact the Embassy," explains Feltieman, "saying they have lost the optimistic verve they first brought to the human world. They come here hoping to bring happiness and love to humankind, only to find themselves overwhelmed by the fear and sadness of the human condition."

While some Felties manage to help humans help themselves, others end up feeling exhausted and discouraged. It is these Felties in particular whom Feltieman seeks to help through FA. Their problem (officially identified as Over Giving without Limits, or OGL ), is defined as a compulsive need to support others emotionally, often to the detriment of their own well-being. FA offers Felties with OGL three steps to regain personal equilibrium, which include:

1. Decide you need to take steps.

2. Accept that it is impossible to help those unwilling to help themselves.

3. Be willing to assist others only to the extent that it does not damage your own health and happiness.

Roger Feltieman, shortly before the advent of the first FA meeting.

Feltieman is confident in his program, and enthuses that the steps "already seem to be helping numerous FA members", but adds that there are some extreme circumstances in which the final step should not be applied to one's life. "If, for example," he explains, "there is a risk that you may singe your wool while rescuing a baby from a burning building, it would certainly be more noble to take the risk. But in usual daily life, most Felties make themselves overly-available to humans and do not set proper boundaries."

If you are a Feltie who fears they suffer from OGL, or would merely like to talk to other Felties about your troubles, please contact the Feltie Embassy nearest you for the date and time of their next FA meeting.