The Risk of Doing Business

Hmmm, sometimes I wonder. Just how public I should be. But there's no turning back now. My blog and my mug are there for all the world to see.

Last Sunday someone at church, whom I've seen many times but never met, said, "You have a blog, don't you?" He said he came upon it by accident. Wish I'd had more time to ask him what kind of accident. Wonder what he was looking for, or where he clicked through from, or what. But I was too busy asking him how he knew it was me (since we'd never exchanged names). He said, the picture. Oh yeah. Forgot about that. Not that I mind, made an ice-breaker to talk to someone new. But who else sees me and has seen my blog. The cashier at a store? The people I will meet at the annual company Christmas party? What all have I said in my blog? Hmm, interesting. Just a tiny bit s..c..a..r..y. The reason I dragged out the name is part of the real reason I'm a little nervous right now about the "risk of doing business" as a blogger.

Yesterday I posted something funny (well, I thought it was funny...just a personal, laughing at myself, kind of funny). In that something funny was the word s..c..a..r...y, and I'm wondering if someone found my blog through that word in a keyword search. Someone commented, someone from another country, just that he liked my blog, thank you; so I went ahead and posted the comment. Then I clicked on the profile and checked out his blog...It was replete with pictures of people from another continent (not his), with various sores (disease? abuse?). Now, the question in my mind was this: Was this blogger some kind of missionary or activist, making people aware, so they could help improve conditions or heal people? But I couldn't read the language. Which language? Spanish? I thought at first. But although I don't know the grammar and can't speak it, I can read it just a bit but I wasn't getting anywhere. So I showed it to my husband who took four years of Spanish in high school. Definitely not Spanish, he said. French, he thought for a moment, then nope. Possibly Portuguese. Yep, I'm sure that was it. I used to live in a Portuguese community (in the U.S.), and I'm sure that was it. But I sure can't read it.

Well, folks, since I couldn't read what was being said along with these pictures, I didn't know. And for you, my readers who may click on profiles (as I do), I didn't want to send you to a blog full of pictures when I don't know where I'm sending you, and what it's all about! ...especially since I was feeling quite creeped out by the whole thing. (I still am. I hope I can shake this soon.) I can't remove a comment...or at least the profile of the commenter...once I've enabled it, so I just deleted the whole post.

So, know, my readers, that I am taking care of you!

And maybe we can say a little prayer for the people in the pictures, whomever they are and whatever it was...and for my commenter. If his cause is noble, God bless him, and if not, may God inspire him to change his heart and his ways.

Wow, this post is way too long. If you haven't already seen my real post for today, please scroll down and read my post on All Saints Day. And I suggest you check out Jean's post on the same topic.