Sunday after the Keith Urban concert we were sitting at PF Chang’s at Bridge Street in Huntsville enjoying a nice baby-free lunch on the patio. Bridge Street looked like a really nice place to shop. Too bad we had a two hour drive back home so we couldn’t spend much time there.
As we were eating, my husband looks at me and says, “So, do you ever read the blogs of random people who you’ve never met?”
To which I replied, “Sure, all the time. Why?”
“Because there’s one of the bloggers that I read right over there in the fountains.” he said.
Turns out Miss Zoot, a Huntsville based blogger, was visiting Bridge Street at the same time we were eating lunch. J has been a faithful reader and fan of hers for many years. And there she was, in the flesh, hanging out with her kids in the public fountain. She even blogged about her day.
My first reaction was “Oh, cool! Let’s go talk to her!” But then the more I thought about that, the less it seemed like a good idea. As a fellow blogger, I thought it would be really flattering to tell her how much my husband has enjoyed reading her blog over the years. But then I put myself in her shoes and thought about how odd it would be if that happened to me. I figured that might be a wee bit on the creepy side to be splashing around, having a blast with my kid in the fountains and have someone come up and go on about how much they knew about my life. It would be especially weird for someone to run up and ask to take photographs with me so that they could go back home and blog about it. And even WEIRDER to notice a stranger with a zoom lens snapping pictures of your family from behind the gigantic horse statue at PF Changs.
So we didn’t go over and introduce ourselves. And we didn’t take any photos of her for my blog. Instead we took pictures of the other view that we got to enjoy during our lunch:
Nothing like a good piece of ass to go with your lettuce wraps.
And on a nicer note, here was the fortune I received that day. Bodes well for my new old Facebook friends, no?
Anyway, back to the point of this entry…
I ask you… what would you have done? Would you have gone up and said something to the blogger in the fountains? Or would you have layed low like we did and then post about it later? On the flip side, how would you feel if someone walked up to you in a public place and said just how much they knew about your life, your kids, your interests?
I still can’t decide if it’s flattering or freaky.
Well, with celebrities like Red Forman and Dave Matthews, I will go up to them w/o hesitation and prostitute myself for a picture. Bloggers, unless you’re Perez Hilton, aren’t really famous or at least famous enough to be recognizable on the street.
Yes, they blog about their life, but it’s all from behind a computer monitor, not a video camera. I would probably feel a bit unsettled if someone came up to talk to me and knew all about my life from my blog because I consider myself to be an average person, no one special.
It was wise to admire her from afar and then cool to blog about it! 🙂
I think it would have been fine for you to introduce yourselves and compliment her blog. Like you, I probably would not pull out my camera.
I think it would have felt different if you were a regular commenter on her blog. Then, she would at least know a little about you, too.
I would love to meet some of my faithful readers and commenters. We’ve become like old friends over the years that I’ve been blogging. I hope they would feel comfortable about approaching me in the real world.
Ah, man! That would have been awesome! Although, I’m a total social dork and probably would have turned red in the face and mumbled something stupid about wet t-shirt contests (considering my son got me SOAKED in those fountains) but I totally know where you’re coming from. I had a friend physically PUSH ME into a blogger before because I was too nervous to go meet her. Because we’re in 4th grade and it’s like she was the boy I liked. Or something.
Next time!
Also – those PFChang horse butts? FREAK ME OUT.
I hope you had a good visit to BridgeStreet. We go out there for one of three things: PFChangs, Monaco VIP Movie section, and Maggie Moos ice cream. But I hear there’s good shopping too! 🙂
LOVE the new layout sexy mama!
Whoa, Zoot posted in this blog! How friggin’ cool is that?!
I have to agree with the Zoot. For the most part, it’s ok to introduce yourself to another blogger. It’s nice to know that someone out there reads your thoughts. On the other hand, it is a little daunting and there are not hard fast rules about meeting bloggers in the wild etiquette.
I figure as long as you don’t get to weird with it, it’s generally appreciated. (I once met a friend’s girlfriend who said to me, “Oh! I read your blog. I know ALL about you.” That was incredibly uncomfortable and weird and made me wonder if I needed a restraining order. So as long as you don’t do that, I think you’d be fine.)
Thanks for all the input guys, and thanks to Miss Zoot herself for moseying on over and posting!
Next time I’ll definitely say hello! 🙂
ok, so here’s my take: I think that the virtual world and the real world should mix a little, because if not we will all become socially retarded. I mean you and I both met our real-life hubbies in the virtual world, right?
A blogger who posts about her life and posts photos or herself so that she will be recognizable to her readers I would think should be ok with people in public recognizing them and saying “hey read your blog, love it.” If someone gets freaked out about you knowing about their life, blogging to the masses on the web is probably not the best idea.
That being said, if the occasion in which you saw her seemed intimate or very professional for her, that would not have been the best time to bust up in her business