My Tale of Addiction

You know, I'm just going to come right out and say it. It's a bold thing to do, but I'm feeling the need for some hard core honesty. Brace yourselves because...here goes. I AM A COMMENT HOG. Yes, I know. It's wrong. It's allllll wrong. But it's what I am. I mean, it's not all I am, but it is some of what I am. I love getting comments. And I know I'm not the only one. In fact, I suspect there's a lot of closet comment hogs out here in Blogland. So why the sudden need to blurt this out? Well, I'll tell you. There's nothing sudden about it, buddy. I've been thinking about this for a while, a good long while. I've been thinking about it because it kind of bothers me that I feel this way. What kind of a dork gets all excited and fluttery at the sight of comments left on her blog? Apparently, the kind of dork who is about 5'4 1/2" tall, weighs *&#$* pounds and has a bizarre and not too flattering mixture of Miss Clairol #43R and Home Grown Gray hair color. And since that's the kind of dork that gets that way about receiving comments, I have no choice but to admit to it because that description fits me to a T. (I admit with a sigh. A very heavy sigh). I just read on someone else's blog the other day how she was so frustrated because she knew there were many people coming by and reading her blog, but they just weren't leaving comments. (I'm assuming she has a type of "counter" program that allows her to track visitors). And I said, "well, Amen, sister. I hear 'ya. It happens to me, too". (Yeah, I talk out loud to people who aren't here. What of it?) Hey, wait a minute...could that be why folks come read my stuff then leave without so much as a fare-thee-well? They sense my instability? Nah. I've read lots of unstable stuff here in Blogland. Hasn't stopped me from saying "howdy-doody" to them. However, while I'm unburdening myself about this embarrassing shortcoming, I feel it's only right to say that I, too, have been known to read a post and not leave a comment. But that doesn't happen all that often. Sometimes I just can't think of anything to say in response. Other times, I can't type a coherent sentence because the comment thingy doesn't have spell-check which puts me at a severe disadvantage. Yeah, okay - that's a pretty lousy excuse. But it's true so get off me. And no, I don't want everyone who reads this post to leave a comment. Well, actually, I do, but if you're not going to do it more than this one time, then what's the point? How long do you think that warm and fuzzy feeling I got from reading your one little ol' comment is going to last me? I'll need more comments. More, more, more. And herein lies the problem...comments are like morphine (maybe...that is, if morphine is addictive. It is addictive, isn't it? Let's assume it is so this analogy will make sense, eh?). Anywho, I think we can all agree that addictions are ugly, cumbersome beasts, but I think we're all afflicted with them, in one form or another. Some addictions are big, some are small. Some are easier to conquer than others. I mean really now. If I can quit smoking cigarettes after 25 years, surely I can kick this comment addiction, too, right? But half the battle is admitting there's a problem. So here goes.

People, I'll not hide from this monster any longer. I'm coming out of the closet (so to speak). So please, hear me and hear me well...My name is Kari and I am a Comment Hog. (sob, sob, sob)

***EDITED TO ADD: Tammy over at My Gentle Retreat explained about replying to comments in her post (near the bottom) of September 8th. I'm editing this to include her link because several people (including me, until Joan clued me in) didn't have their e-mail address enabled so those who wanted to reply to a comment I left, couldn't do so directly. Life is much easier for me now that I've "fixed" that little problem. Thank you, Joan! And thank you Tammy for explaining it to everyone in Blogland!