"Explanatory"

                My last posting (What’s Wrong with Will) set off some readers. More than one or two of the women readers let me have it. One said, “Women aren't the problem, YOU are”. Another said, “YOU need to grow up and get a life”. It cost me two friends/readers that I know of. Who knows maybe more when the dust settles? Two friendships lost over a blog posting? I feel pretty certain some readers missed what I was trying to do with that posting. I think should clear some things up.

                I made it clear in my e-mail before the blog that I know I am the problem. It’s me okay? I said that up front. No one should have read themselves into the piece. Secondly, I said it was intended as humor and it was so over the top that I don’t know how anyone could read themselves into it. The blog was not directed at anyone I know, now or in the past.

                I also said that all humor has an element of truth in it. This one did. I did have a session with my counselor about my difficulties making friends in particular in New York and also past relationships with women IN GENERAL. You see, I am exploring what is wrong with Will. It is true that he asked me to write down a list of the types of women I couldn't ever see myself with.   It was just an exercise that’s all. When I read my list to him, he paused for about ten second, shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, Will that just about eliminate(s) everyone”.  It was a funny moment, and we both laughed.

                On the subway ride home, I got to thinking about this: What if ( a what if, not  documented research) the reason people in my age group have such a hard time finding the right person is because we know ourselves, have lived a life time and know what we like and don’t like. We have pretty set values, and many of us have had relationships go sideways in the past and we aren't anxious to make that mistake again. So we are (as we should be) very careful to get it right. Maybe, we have inadvertently boxed ourselves into a corner where it is too hard to find the perfect person, like finding a needle in a haystack. I wanted to make an over the top funny example of ME, eliminating everyone except 1% then wondering what’s wrong! That’s all.  

                It was good natured teasing of certain exaggerated types of women. I could have made the same list of exaggerated types of men women would likely never want to be with starting with the first category: smart asses that live in New York. Think men can’t be on a list? I've heard many women talking with each other about “that type of man” (and it wasn't complimentary). I can make fun of myself, and I do everything from my hair, to being neurotically organized and so forth. I think we need to keep a sense of humor. There isn't a single reader of mine I have ever put down or insulted (as far as I know). 

I don’t do personal put downs, not even when I am angry.

I am however a person that satirizes (pokes fun) at all people in general and institutions. I used to tell my classes at PHS that I was an equal opportunity offender. They laughed but they quickly saw that I kidded me first and then others. They liked it because they knew it was NOT mean spirited. It was to make the point we shouldn't take ourselves too seriously. I teased the girls in class, the guys in class, the overly dramatic high school relationships, and I even brought my irreverent style of humor to my football announcing where I teased The PHS Administrative team, the programs, the cheerleaders, American history, the crappy food served at snack bars, fellow teachers, and more. People told me all the time how much they liked my humor. I announced 17 years.

                My last point is this. My readers range from age 18-67. They are the most conservative of Republicans to the most liberal of Democrats.  Some are very religious, and some not religious at all.

The education range is from high school to advanced degrees. I have about 70% women and 30% men (well now it’s about 64% women, 36% men). Some of my readers like sports, some like food, some like motorcycles, some like music, some are scholars, some are retired, some parents, some are teachers and on and on. What am I going to write that will make everyone happy? When I criticized Paula Deen, two readers said I was cruel, if I criticize Pres. Obama I am a racist, if I call Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfield two of the most evil men of the early 21^st Century my Republican friends think I gone to the dark side. Just about every posting makes somebody laugh and somebody else angry. Should I only write about rose petals, puppies, and sugar cookie recipes, good deals on lawnmowers, fishing, and golf? I would rather have a root canal without anesthesia.

                I have hit the 4^th anniversary of the Bailey Post with 153 postings in 4 years. I am going to retool the whole endeavor soon. It will be a new site, a new look and some new things to offer.  At that time I will ask you if you want to stay on as a reader. I don’t want anyone to stay on that doesn’t want to (which is weird since for all I know, few read anyway) and I will try to do a better job of providing a “Potentially Insensitive” alert in front of posts that contain satire.