Putting Myself Out There

I've never been afraid to give my opinion, in writing or when asked personally. With the invention of the internet (yes, I'm that old that I can say the internet was "invented" during my lifetime), I have joined a number of forums or online bulletin boards, most which deal with Puerto Vallarta. I met my good friend Colleen on a PV forum way back in 2002 -- I was going on my first solo trip and was looking to hang out with some other single women. She responded to my post and we've been great friends ever since. In fact, I've met a lot of really wonderful people through the internets.

Unfortunately, when you go "public" with your point of view, anyone with a keyboard can take a metaphorical swing at you. That's the risk you take but, as I often say, life without risk isn't really living. I always use my real name and post my email address. I figure if anyone has a beef with something I've written, they can contact me directly. Unfortunately, postings on the internet can easily be misinterpreted (smiley faces can't always save the day!) and feelings get hurt. I've learned that people's interpretations can be grossly different, even with respect to the most simple and inane topics. And writing a blog puts you at risk of anyone taking offence to something you've written.

Oh well!

I received quite a few mean-spirited comments on this blog and the other one I wrote when I lived in Vallarta. Usually by some asshole named "Anonymous" who is big on providing their negative, defamatory opinion but not big enough to sign their name and take responsibility for it. Cowards. Thankfully, the positive feedback usually outnumbers the bad by 100 to 1 which just goes to show you -- if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. LOL