"Cold Turkey"

Have you ever just gone wandering through blogland?  Hitting "Next Blog" and visiting whatever pops up randomly?  I would guess just about every blogger must have done that at least once or twice, especially when just starting out.  How else to you figure out what blogging is all about?? 

Well, I do it occasionally too.  Usually when I'm looking for inspiration for a good topic to write about or by friends haven't been very forthcoming with new posts.   It rarely results in an actual post because I either get sucked into reading a blogger who has been writing for years or I land on a whole bunch of Norwegian, Asian, or German bloggers!  (There seem to be a lot of Scandinavian and German bloggers!)  I rarely use the translate feature, because...well...it doesn't translate very well!  Sorry Blogger!

Anyway, on more than one occasion (actually many more than one occasion), I will be reading a  blog that appeals to me for one reason or another and I will suddenly realize that the post I am reading appears to be the newest post, but the date is more than a year ago!  Or longer.  Sometimes there is a hint in the last couple of posts that the blogger's circumstances have changed, or they are tired of writing, or upset with people making not-so-nice comments (Why does anyone do that????)  so the fact is that the latest entry is also the last entry!  But other times there is no particular hint.  It just stops!  "Cold Turkey"!

What happened??  That really piques my curiosity.  Has there been an unexpected change in their lives?  Illness?  Accident?  Tragedy?  Death??  Or just an interrupted writing habit that once broken, was just impossible to restart??  Was it good news or bad news??  Where did they go??  Are they all right?

Frequently these bloggers have been writing faithfully for a few years, they have followers and commenters, but for whatever reason they don't write anymore. 

It feels kind of like having a boyfriend who, after dating for a long time, sudeenly just never calls again!  Not that personal of course, but similar.  Boom!  Gone.

Since I've been blogging I have located a whole bunch of bloggers that I enjoy and I follow them.  So far of the ones I already follow one has died (he was quite elderly), one has decided she doesn't want to write anymore, and one has just stopped.  The rest still write, some only sporadically, but they are still active. 

Unless it is a truly tragic situation (and I certainly hope that it isn't), if a blogger needs to quit, a couple of minutes of your (or a friend's) time to let the followers know if something has happened really seems like the polite thing to do.  We bloggers practically beg people to read our blog.  Leaving those who do read your stuff all high and dry and wondering what happened to you isn't a good thing to do to your "friends." 

Well, life is unpredictable, we all know that and situations can change over night.  Things happen.  Sometimes good, other times not so good.  But if I've like your writing enough to become I follower, I kind of consider you a friend.  I'm interested in your blog for a reason!  Just stopping with no explanation isn't what I would expect from a friend.

I promise that (unless I get hit by a bus or the like) if I choose to quit writing at some point (no, I am not contemplating doing that), I will not just quit "Cold Turkey"!  I will post about what is going on and to say goodbye and thank you! 

Don't you think that's the right thing to do??