A Big Fat No-No

A couple of weeks ago, I did this list of five things where one of the lists was what I would do if I was a millionaire. One response was that I'd buy a new camera - not because I needed one but because I wanted a better one. I'm changing that answer...I think I officially need a new one now. My camera has been going through batteries like Lindsay Lohan goes through rehab. So, I don't have any pictures to add to this post (*gasp*). After reading the responses Jill posted that were filled out by blog party attendees, I hesitate to even dare write a post without accompanying pictures, due to the universal dislike of such offerings. Alas, I have no pictures, but do have words, so words it is....for now.

There's been trouble in River City. The last two weeks, I've met quite a few new people. No...not new, just people I haven't spoken to face to face before. I think for the internet wary, or just people with different tastes, the thought of meeting up for lunch or whatever with someone whose blog you've read or heard of is very odd behavior. I've been getting a lot of ridicule and snarky comments about these meetings which has put me on the defensive. I'm thirty-one years old, for crying out loud, and I think I have a pretty good head on my shoulders, not to mention enough weight that it would be pretty tricky to throw me in a trunk. I realize Dateline has revealed the dangers of internet predators and stalkers and I'm aware of the potential risk. I don't go just all wily-nily. Meetings with Jill have been well documented, by people with good reputations, so I knew she wasn't a fake and that her blog party wasn't really a masquerade of blood-sucking goths. I had Dinner with Dana, who I had actually been in a married BYU ward years before. I had lunch with Denise, who Dana knows and could vouch for her. And Kelly, well...it just wasn't possible for her to be weird. In fact, when I first "met" her, it really was like seeing an old friend.

So the comments like, "going to meet your little blogger friends" or even the raised eyebrows and eye-rolls have me bristling. I admit that a year ago, I might have been on the side of the comment makers. My sister Emily has long been comfortable meeting people from message boards or things like it, and, yes, I thought it was weird. Maybe she felt defensive too. If so, I apologize. Maybe my own former feelings have me feeling defensive when there's not even opposition. I might be imagining the eye-rolling and smirks. But, in my imagination or for real, there's just been so much static that I haven't been able to relax and simply enjoy these meetings.

Regardless, I met up with Kelly and her kids yesterday at the children's museum and then she came over to swim. The children's museum was hard, because it was crazy busy and impossible to talk but the swimming was delightful. Kids were happy, contained and entertained, and we soaked up the sun in lawn chairs. She's awesome and exactly like I already knew her to be. Later, she left and fed her clan and I fed mine and then we met up again and went downtown for dinner without kids. The food wasn't great, but the company was and I spent the next couple of hours laughing at her antics. Then we went back to her parent's house and giggled and enjoyed talking into the late, late hours like girlfriends like to do. Nothing weird at all about it. I wish I had pictures to document the total normalcy of our outings. Again, it is unlucky that my camera fell off the wagon and downed all of its juice.

The thing is, I'm not online dating - trying out these bloggers looking for my new best friend. I actually feel bad for people who do online date...they must hear crap from everyone. But, I think it's a legitimate way to connect with people and I don't really think it's all that more risky than meeting someone in a more traditional way. I've had plenty of bad experiences with psycho friends that I've met in a perfectly respectable sphere. Classes at BYU (scary female stalker), roommates at BYU (depression, food-stealing, musical belting), and in wards. I do have common sense and can use is appropriately. I am not a freak. At least not for this reason.