Way back in 1st grade (when kids REALLY dressed up for school photos) I forgot to bring home the inky memo about Picture Day. So when I came home from school with my school photos (this one), my poor mom had a stroke. She said “Doug, why didn’t you tell me you had Picture Day?? I can’t send these out to anyone, you look like a little reliefer from Bucktown!”
I lied and said I never got any Picture Day memo.
(BTW if you’re unfamiliar with the term ‘reliefer’, it was a local slur for people on welfare in my hometown. The west end of Waynesburg was a poor area that was home to many of them, and was known as Bucktown.)
Anyway, after my angry mom told me to take the photos back to school, I bawled with embarrassment and told her the truth. She bought a few of them, including a larger one to give to my Grandma Morris and this wallet-sized one for myself.
When I told Grandma what I’d done, including lying to Mom before coming clean, she said “I’d rather see an honest Doug in poor clothes than a dishonest Doug in fancy ones. I’m going to put this picture in a nice spot.”
(God as my witness, I never forgot her saying that to me. I’ve thought of it often through the years.)
I wanted to share that little story because this past weekend in a private chatroom, a somewhat popular blogger remarked she followed various blogs, and listed mine as one of them. (She then sent me a personal email to let me know, and it pretty much made my day.)
It explained the sudden flurry of visits here, and a couple of comments sent my way that weren’t great. One wrote to let me know he didn’t like my blog because it was all over the place, and another guy sent this:
You’re not a bad writer but your life seems pretty boring. It’s why no one leaves comments or reads your blog.
WAITAMINUTE, HOW DOES HE KNOW NO ONE READS MY BLOG?
I politely responded and thanked him for his feedback (and didn’t tell him what I really thought). Then he wrote again and said “You just need to come up with some better content.” Right. Got it.
A couple weeks ago on Youtube, I watched a man in a van demonstrate how to cook hamburgers:
“I bought a pound of ground beef that’s divided into quarter-pound patties. I’ll fry up 2 of them now, and freeze the other two. In a week or so, I’ll thaw them and have hamburgers again, or combine them for spaghetti with meat sauce. Or I can add taco seasoning to make tacos. The possibilities are endless!”
I love this Grizzly Adams character, but is THIS considered interesting content?? It must be to his followers, his hamburgers got 3,400 likes and 47,800 views!
I admit it, I don’t write just to hear myself talk. I get a big kick seeing the different towns & cities on my blog’s visitors map. I know I’m not impressing anyone with my humdrum life, but I’m not trying to amass a large following or make any money either.
I love to talk, I love to write. This allows me to do both. It helps me feel less alone.
So, until someone shuts down the internet, or starts charging me for the space I take up on it, it looks like my boring stuff is here to stay. Thanks for stopping by!
Well, I feel certain that Grandma Morris would say she'd rather have if you can't say anything nice Doug than stoop to someone else's level Doug.
ReplyDeleteI'll never understand why anyone feels compelled to spout their negativity rather than just leave.
Some should learn that just because you can comment doesn't mean you should. I'm here at least three times per week.
Hi David--you're a good guy, thanks so much for your kind words (and your visits). I know I've never been good with criticism, but I appreciate what you said here--it's not like he had to pay anything to visit! Anyway thanks again, I hope you're doing good (and I hope he comes back to see your comment. :)
ReplyDeleteI don't see why wearing a t-shirt makes you look like a 'reliefer', you should see some of the stuff my kids wore on photo day. All I asked of them is they have clean clothes and faces for the photos. I hope that Grizzly Adams hamburger guy at least adds seasonings to his patties, because plain ground beef is awful.
ReplyDelete