join society – get a job
at the least, do charity work

When we hurl something into the blogosphere it is always interesting to see what boomerangs back. One of the pleasures of logging on to our WordPress account is checking out who has been reading our latest posts, seeing the familiar gravatars of those who follow and comment, the reappearance of bloggers catching up after life has set them in a different direction and, best of all, the new reader.  We feel it is only polite to return the effort and go and have a look at the blog behind the icon – sometimes we are pleasantly surprised and other times just downright peeved.  Today was one of those days….

We have gotten used to spam, whether in huge amounts or just a dribble, it always winds up in the same place. It can be humorous for its grammatical errors and syntax on steroids, it can complement, cajole or attempt to lure but most of the time we take it at face-value for what it is – a blatant attempt to get us to buy cheap Louboutins, NFL jerseys or unmentionable appliances and all we have to do is press delete. There is a new form of spam rearing its ugly head into our awareness, one that disguises itself in the form of a blog, has a face and name that looks legitimate enough and “likes” usually only one of our posts.  So what do we do?  In the hopes of finding a like-minded blog filled with new, interesting, insightful and educational content we put aside our cynicism and deep-rooted mistrust and click on the name lurking in our notifications.  What do we find?  The pasty, sun-glass wearing, muscle tanked, baggy shorted kid sitting with a beer and a laptop on a beach in Thailand telling us how we too can join their ranks, give up our day jobs, fulfill our wildest dreams and make thousands of dollars a week blogging. Really? Shades of virtual Jim Jones….

We have nothing against making a buck. The Western world has taken pride in its promotion of every man being able to make something of himself, to make pots of money from silly gadgets or brilliant inventions, to go out and become rich or famous or just get by but there is a caveat – you actually have to work for it, put some effort into achieving your dream. We are so sick of entitled brats from all walks of society thinking they deserve the money, the toys, vacations, cars, houses and consumer-driven trappings without actually doing anything for it.  What makes them think they are so special, so talented, so deserving that they feel they have the right to do nothing and then come and tell us we are the idiots?  Alot of us have productive, creative lives doing something constructive, giving back to society any way we can, paying our taxes and putting money back into the system so that young people will benefit from social security, health care and government programs when they do grow up. As much as we might bitch and complain, that’s life.  We have jobs and if we are able and socially responsible, we create jobs. If we are lucky enough to give others the benefit of our wisdom, we pass it along by teaching, blogging, doing charity work, building wells in Malawi and saving orang-utans before they reach extinction. We do because we can.

So, don’t bother visiting if you are trying to sell us a short-cut to paradise, get rich quick scheme that is too good to be true. Don’t like our post if you just want us to go back and like you so you can make money without being a productive member of society. Don’t tell all your friends who make tons of money by posting “make a quarter for every inspirational quote” about this blog. Don’t expect us to support you in your quest for instant gratification.

We don’t care.