A Clarification of a Curious Comment

A Clarification of a Curious Comment July 6, 2019

 

It is yet again time for that part of my job that hate most of all. I hate it worse than moderating comments, or answering the phone, or reading Chapter Two of a Baby-Sitters’ Club book. It’s the time when I remind everyone about my tip jar. I try to keep the number of reminders down to one or two per month, unless there’s an emergency.

This month I saw a very puzzling comment, from someone who said that I “beg for money” and that people should give money to “the Saint Vincent De Paul Society in Steubenville” instead of to me. As far as I know, Steubenville doesn’t have a St. Vincent De Paul society in the first place. If you’d like to give to a Steubenville charity instead of giving to me, I recommend The Friendship Room. I donate to them whenever I get the chance. But as for me, I’m not a beggar. I’m a blogger, which I realize is somehow less respectable.

I receive a paycheck of between one and two hundred dollars a month from Patheos, calculated by how many reads the blog gets.  All of my other pay comes from gratuities. I use the gratuities to live on and support my family, since Michael has to stay home as a homemaker with me so often laid up from fibromyalgia.  I pay taxes on them– or would if I made enough to owe tax instead of getting a return. They’re not charitable donations. The paypal button says “donate” but I’m not a programmer and didn’t make it say that. It says “you received a payment” to me when I check my email and I can’t change that text either.

I write about politics, religion, social justice and life in the Ohio Valley, and then I pass the hat, and you pay me  to write if you like to read such things– because, with that money, I pay my rent so I’ll have a place to write in, and the utility bills so I can access the internet and write. I pay to keep Michael and Rosie alive so we can have cute family adventures and I can write about them. I pay for the supplements and tonics I use to control my fibromyalgia, which all together cost a bit more than rent does. In the weeks that take all my supplements, I’m much more alert, the fatigue is abated, and I’m able to write much more. In the weeks where we can’t afford to buy them, I get sicker and write less. If I ever hit the jackpot and get paid tons more than I currently do, I’ll replace the old broken washer and dryer I’ve wanted to replace for a year, since the used ones we were given keep falling apart, and write a blog post about how much fun it is to throw a broken washing machine down the basement stairs.

So, with that said, if you like what you read, give me a tip when you can. Simply click on the “donate” tab at the top of this page or click here, then click on the yellow “donate” button, and Paypal will walk you through the rest. And if you can’t afford to pay, no worries– just keep reading and sharing if you like and maybe somebody else will.

And now, back to blog posts worth reading.

(image via Pixabay) 

 

 


Browse Our Archives