Growing up, my dad wasn’t nice to my mom. It was hard to see. He was distant with me, but never mean. It was like he took all his trauma out on one person. She didn’t have high standards. Just wanted someone to be nice to her…a person to enjoy her company…maybe a partner who would occasionally thank her for cooking the meals. But she never got that. Not even a little bit. And she was ok with it. So, like many of you, I grew up in a dysfunctional household.
The weirdest thing (to me, at least) is that he never saw it. My old man, who would be a sweetheart to total strangers, never saw how badly he treated his wife.
So much of the person I became is because of this.
Because he treated her this way.
And she took it.
I was raised by two people who never saw. They were blind.
How could a man so insensitive?
How could a woman allow it?
Forget standing up for herself, she actually tried to please him. It was the main purpose of her life.
I vowed to be a different person. I grew up into a guy who didn’t take shit from anyone. A person who would always listen. Someone who cared. Yeah, I have plenty of faults, but I’m not unfair. I tried so hard not to be blind.
My mom thought she was being kind…loving…a good wife. But she was weak. Isn’t that something we all do? We put these positive words on our biggest dysfunctions. We refuse to see. Well, she didn’t take care of herself and we all suffered.
If only I could get them to see.
I thought I was helping…being a hero…but I think I did more harm than good.
Today? Well, I have a VERY sensitive trigger to any mistreatment. The wronging of anyone makes my blood boil like you wouldn’t believe. Especially women. But bad behavior from anyone becomes my fight. And I’m exhausted. Finally, after all these years…I’m ready to see. People need to live their own lives. There isn’t a way around that.
My point here is that this will be my last post bashing other bloggers. It isn’t the best use of this space. Or of my limited time. It doesn’t help you guys. Shady bloggers will never go away. Like cockroaches, they’ll keep coming in from every crack. 100% of bloggers will claim to “help their readers.” Many of them are full of shit. People can be incredibly dishonest about their true intentions. But, you know what, they’re never going to see it if they don’t want to. Most of these guys will forever choose to be blind.
Yes, making money is a good thing. We should make as much as we can. I’ll try to make a few bucks here at some point I’m sure. Nobody in their right mind is against that. But in blogging specifically, there’s a right way to earn a dollar. When bloggers are aware of better card offers than what they promote…when a “help blog” writes posts simply as a vehicle for credit card sales…posts that wouldn’t be made otherwise…these are the wrong ways to do it. Shady bloggers put money over principles. Honest bloggers don’t. Having affiliate links isn’t a problem. The lack of principles is. Some of you (rightfully) get upset. Why do you guys scream about this on message boards? I think ti’s because you can’t believe how blind people can be.
Believe me, I get it.
I couldn’t look myself in the mirror if I told newbies to get an “amazing” 30,000-point card while knowing about a 100,000-point version. I’ll never understand how people hold back from posting better offers they are aware of. But it happens all day, every day.
You guys know I’ll always be a person you can trust. Even when I choose to make money here. I’m not going to write another post like this, so I wanted to end my blogger “rants” with a bang. Please be very careful about believing the wrong people. Be observant. Have a good radar for the right blogs. Don’t fall for clever salesmanship by shady people. Notice what comes first…integrity or the bottom-line.
Mainly, don’t waste your time trying to get a real answer from dishonest people. Their blindness isn’t my problem anymore. It shouldn’t be yours either.
With that long story in the books, here’s a Flyertalk post about possible 100,000-point Platinum and 50,000-point Gold offers from Amex. These “deals” have been posted before and still won’t work for many of you. If you’re new to this game and read multiple blogs, you may have just seen this in the last 24 hours. As usual, that’s because people are getting paid. But that’s my last negative word on other bloggers. If you really want to do something helpful, stop reading those websites, clicking on those links, and talking about those people. See things more clearly.
