Stranger Danger

I like unusual people. Probably because I’m so very ordinary myself. I love TheBenchwarmer because he’s young, uber intelligent, emotionally complex, creatively talented, slightly sarcastic and emotionally charged. I like Arkenstone because he’s a self confessed geek who likes the Blues Brothers and hits from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s and can’t resist a KISS concert. I like Dario, even though I haven’t met him because he’s an angry young man with something to say, erudite, funny and a little insecure (but uses the ‘c’ word) just a little too often. I like the Yarpy because he’s so politically incorrect. He’s leaving work at the end of the month and I’ll miss him. Although he left South Africa years ago, his accent is as thick, his lack of political correctness is obvious and his jokes . . .well they’re totally inappropriate half the time.
I also like my little blog community, they all have something different and unusual to commend them.

ClareBear tossed a comment on her way out to the gym last night:
“You need to get some ‘real’ friends, you don’t know who these people are you’re talking to on the internet.” And with that she was gone. I stewed on it.

What’s the difference between talking to people on the internet and joining a pen pal ring? (showing my age there). ClareBear had a pen pal in year six, we travelled to England, caught them by surprise and ended up spending 2 nights in Durham with them. The meeting between the girls was disastrous but I got on really well with her parents and we’ve maintained contact ever since. They even visited us a few years ago and we had a boozy ball and I haven’t laughed so much in years. I think you can get a reasonable hold on people with whom you correspond even if you don’t know their real names or what they look like. Would K8 share Banana Bread recipes and the emotional relationship she has with her little boy if she was an axe murderer? I can’t imagine a sexual predator starting a knnitting blog or posting their holiday snaps of Paris. I’m pretty sure that Dodge is on the up and up despite his nom de plume (anyhow I know his real name, we’ve been talking for a while on a professional level). And a mature man with a gammy leg who takes pictures of baby blackbirds and waxes lyrical about his grandchildren couldn’t possibly be any danger to me. I don’t consider an invitation to a chocolate factory in Pennsylvania a personal threat and it’s not as if I’m ever going to come within 12,000 kms of any of these people in my current financial state so I think I’m pretty safe!

Who’s to say that I’m not the nutter in this scenario?

I have a pretty good idea who reads this blog, whether they comment or not, and I know all but five of them personally. I’d never met Arkenstone until earlier this year but it was a good encounter and we’ll do it again.

So sweetness and light . . . at least I don’t party pash randoms at the pub or plan trips to Mexico based on an 8 hour encounter with a lad named Paco! OK I don't have the wide network of friends that you do or feel the need to party hard every weekend (been there and done that) And I do have ‘real’ friends as well . . .this is just another outlet, a little vent and a lot of fun when you and DrummerBoy are off and about and I have to face my demons alone! So there . . .