Guilty

July 1, 2008

For about three weeks I’ve been taking care of an imaginary dog on Facebook. It’s an exercise in futility because if I miss a day and forget to feed or fuss over or walk my dog, he loses points. These points equate to health and life and happiness for the dog. And they equal guilt and sorrow and anger for me.

Beginning today I am not going to feed Jester anything unless I happen to be on Facebook for some other reason.

I’m not going to walk him.

I’m not going to water him.

Or train him.

Or love him.

He’s just an imaginary creature that is taking valuable energy and time from me. This is time that I could be spending writing the great American novel. It’s energy that could be better used finding a way to market my writing skills to clients. And it’s a pastime that pales in comparison with scooter riding, going to the movies, entertaining my girlfriend or spending time with my family and Fletcher – a real dog.

I know that this might anger some people, but that’s the way it is. If I find that I’m responsible and interested enough to take care of a dog, I’m going to make it a real one.

I’ll keep you posted.

By the way, if you want to feed or fuss or love my dog, please do so. You can find him by looking up my name – Jeff Cutler – on Facebook.com.

More to come…