Advice From a Stranger: I Need to Respect Myself More

Got an email this morning from a fella who stumbled across my website.

Said he pushed a few buttons, found some pictures of me that weren't exactly suitable for church, and thought I oughta make them harder to find.

Told me I needed to respect myself.

Then complimented my dick, my eyes, and said fishing sounded fun.

Well hell.

That was a lot to unpack before I'd even finished my coffee.

Now I appreciate somebody looking out for me. I really do.

But here's the thing.

I got plenty of respect for myself.

I work. I take care of my boy. I try to treat people right. I pay my bills and mind my own damn business.

And every now and then I apparently show more of my business than some folks think I ought to.

I'm 43 years old.

I ain't sitting around waiting for somebody to tell me what I'm allowed to do with my own body.

Some people go to church on Sunday. Some people drink beer and watch football. Some people spend their evenings posting pictures of their supper.

I sell my underwear.

We all got hobbies.

And I ain't saying everybody's gotta approve of mine.

You don't have to look at anything you don't wanna look at. That's the beauty of having your own two eyes and a finger that knows how to hit the back button.

But I do find it funny when somebody goes looking through your stuff, finds exactly what they're looking for, and then tells you that you shouldn't have put it there.

He is a good example of what I was talkin about when I wrote about not liking people all of the time.

Buddy, you pushed the buttons.

I didn't come over to your house and hang a picture of my ass on your refrigerator.

Anyway, I wrote the fella back and thanked him for looking out for me.

No hard feelings.

He seemed like a decent enough guy.

And he was right about one thing.

Ain't nothin like fishing.

— Joe

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