A winter’s tale

‘Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear’ John Lennon – Happy Christmas (War is over)

I must say thanks to OD for providing me with something to write about on this cold & frosty morning.

For a long time I have been in favour of some sort of subscription fee for this site, in order to stop it collapsing before our eyes. So this morning I log on to see the creation of ODPlus. Great idea I think. I like the idea that I can stop certain people reading what I write. It means that I don’t have to fear someone I know in real life, reading what I have to say. It means I can write about my relationship & fears without worrying if a friend will stumble across it & tell Duncan. I like that thought.

But to limit the number of people on the site? Seems mightily unfair to those that join later on. Also it means that I run the risk of not being able to join because I can’t sign up today. And of course, it’s clearly geared to people who have the means to make transactions over the net. I don’t own a credit card & I know my debit card isn’t taken by Paypal. I tried to point out this to OD people before when they offered us the chance to make donations, but they chose to ignore what I had to say. Probably because I’m not American.

It seems slightly elitist. I want the additional privacy that it offers, but I don’t want to have two diaries. I like that one of you (you know who you are) has been reading for months without needing to have their own diary. I don’t see why I should take that away. I guess I want my cake & to eat it.

And should I not choose to join, then what? Watch as my favourites sign up – one already has & will now not be using his regular OD anymore – and feel ever so slightly abandoned? And will the rest of us, the ones who can’t afford it, will we be left playing ‘pop-up mania’ and attempting to stop the pop-up ads taking over the computer?

I’m all for the survival of OD, but creating an elite environment seems wrong. Will I join? In all honesty I don’t know. I guess if enough of my favourites do, I’ll feel forced to, and if I can afford it I may. But to pay the money & keep a completely public diary will seem a waste of time. To pay and not let any of you read it means I may as well just keep a private diary again. I can’t help but feel that there were better ways to handle it & maybe the OD gods should have taken some time to see what we, the people that use this place, wanted.

Until there is a next time…

xx