Disappointed and hurt

Since no one reads this stuff, I am able to unburden myself and fight off depression by expressing my views and feelings. Again, since n one is listening, I do not have to worry about my hurting any feelings!

As I have said, I do some writing for Associated Content. Thus far, since last September, I have had 74 articles published, dealing with politics, restaurant and book reviews, history and, occasionally, attempts at humor. I do this to fight lethargy and old age, but also for the ego gratification. And I get paid.

Payment is determined in large measure by the number of "page views" each article receives or is likely to receive. The formula are complex, but essentially, the more people who "click" on the article, the more I get paid.

Thus far I have had over 14000 "page views", which isn't bad. Except that practically none of these views are by my children or grandchildren or relatives.

When our children have wanted or needed something in the past, whether it was money or babysitting services or whatever, we never hesitated, never put off the response because we were too busy to bother. Yet when I ask our children to please look at my writings, they all say that their lives are just too busy. One daughter and her husband have refused several requests to allow their 15 year old access to my articles, but they will not remove the block! This is notwithstanding the fact that neither I nor Associated Content would publish porn or anything else that would be inappropriate for a 15 year old.

At the top of each article is a rating grid whereby a reader can give the piece 1 to 5 stars. If the aggregate rating is high, then the piece may be highlighted in the home page, thus gathering more potential readers and "page views".

At the very least, one would hope that the children would tell me that they have read the articles. Nope. They won't even show that courtesy. I would settle got a "white lie" and a comment that the "old man" is prolific -- if not intelligent!

And that hurts me, greatly.