The DM Dispatch, Special interview with Footy. (comment)

[goldeneys]

*LotR theme plays as camera zooms in*

 

Ok, as many of you know, Footman, the former XO (executive officer) in the Band has been gone for quite a while, now he has returned, I had an interview with him earlier, and here it is.

 

*starts tape*

 

 

Me (Goldy): Well Footy, you've been gone for a while, and some of us have been wondering why, could you fill us in?

 

Footy: I left the Org and DM because my daughter had gotten hurt and was hospitalized and things weren't looking good at all. This led to other problems in my home and work life. My life was basically going down the drain and escaping to here seemed like a much better idea instead of dealing with what was going on in my RL. There were other factors that contributed with my inability to moderate my time spent avoiding reality, such as the fact that my medication for treating depression wasn't working anymore. I was on the very verge of loosing everything and everybody I loved and I needed to plant myself firmly back in the real world and get my priorities in order. The first thing I did was sever my ties with my escape and concentrate on the important things. I really had no intention of coming back, ever. It's very funny how quickly things can change. My daughter recovered much sooner than anybody thought she would. I heard the word miracle too many times from doctors and nurses to discount it. I spent some quality time with therapists and psych docs and got my situation remedied, and my wife and I had a long talk when things settled down. She and I decided that my time spent online wasn’t exactly a bad thing, but it didn’t need to be as excessive as it once was. Our deal was no IMing, very limited time at home when the house work was done, and she didn’t care how much time I spent at work (my job is dull and easy, so I’m on a lot at work). I decided to give it a test to see if my obsessive nature would take back over. To do so, I created Death Dealer, using my experiences in Iraq for the name (See the archers thread somewhere for the name idea). If I got out of control, I could back out gracefully and nobody would know Footy had returned. From the start I decided on the clues to see who could figure it out (Sheli was the first). This was just me being me, and messing around. I’ve cut down on the time I spend online and my personal life is loads better. I don’t think I took too much on as the XO, but it was too much for that time in my life. I have no problems that Horn is XO, as he will definitely do a great job at it! I have nothing but admiration for Corki, Cuma, Northie, and Horn for running the Org, as it is extremely time consuming!

 

 

Me (Goldy): Wow, you almost lost everything there, sorta makes me stop and think about how much time I'm spending on the Band and DM. So, how do you feel about being back?

 

Footy: It’s nice to be back. This is my escape from RL and everybody needs some way to do that. I just won’t escape as much as I once did. The nicest thing was reading the goodbye posts from everybody. It gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see what people had to say.

 

Me (Goldy): Yeah, I think alot of us have that problem of "escaping too much", me included. it's just nice to come here, and get away for a bit, in my case, I'm normally a whole different person here than in RL, but there has to be a limit. So what are you going to do now that you are back?

 

Footy: I won’t be as active as I once was. My aspirations are limited to being a C-G again or a B-C or being a Redarm again. Nothing grand. I considered applying for the Under Commander, but that is going right down the road I had already traveled. Redarm leader would be fun for a quarter. That is the next thing I’d like to do. Other wise I’m currently trying to over take Northie as The Band’s Most Wanted!

 

Me (Goldy): Well, I wish you the best of luck in taking Northie's spot, (you better watch out for me though). Thank you soo much for that Footy, I know that if that happened in my life, I might have a hard time telling everyone, but it really is a good reminder of how much we really can become addicted to DM.

 

*tape stops*

 

Well, there you have it, a truly touching story, and incase you were wondering, yes he did say all that, I made none of it up.

 

*LotR theme plays as camera zooms out*

[Guest Egwene]

I am sure that I am not the only one that felt a tinge of guilt whilst reading that interview. Time seems to fly by at a much faster pace on-line than in RL. It is so easy to spend hours on the computer and leave stuff that should be a priority by the wayside.

 

A stark reminder to us all, not to loose sight of real life even if we love coming here.

 

Good Luck Footy. I am sure having recognised the problem you'll be able to juggle RL and DM in the future more effectively.

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