Dummy Spitting Doesn't Pay

Australians are well known for their colloquialisms. One of my less attractive, too-often used actions is 'to spit the dummy' when I get upset. I'm not alone in this and over the years there have been some spectacular 'dummy spits' that have cost the perpetrator millions of dollars and total loss of prestige. Luckily (or unluckily?) I don't fall into that category but that's more by the grace of God than good management.

If someone 'spits the dummy' it means they have a “hissy fit” I believe it's called in America. Only there it is probably more noise than the Aussie 'dummy spit' and oft times people aren't aware that someone has had “a spit” if they are not usually close to the person. If you are married to a “dummy spitter”, it is rarely a marriage that lasts. By comparison to my “X”, I haven't even made pre-school yet. He was a champion.

Dummy spitting really doesn't pay because you usually end up hurting yourself far more than anyone else. My 'dummy spit' happened because, like many, many other writers, I got tired of finding my work reprinted without due acknowledgement or a link back. So, I decided “right, I'll not post any more articles into any article directories!” And guess what?

My traffic has fallen off incredibly fast and I'm not getting paid either. What's worse for me is that, for the first time for many months, I'm feeling 'lonely'. Previously I've enjoyed seeing my reader numbers climb with surprising speed and I liked that. It made me feel useful.

I don't like this 'lonely' feeling and seeing my numbers going south faster than the flood water running down the Paroo river ( for only the third time since Australia was settled) has given me 'the swift kick' in my nether-regions I so so richly deserve.

So, if the Paroo river that starts in far north-western Queensland has enough water to run all the way to the sea in South Australia, I can “eat crow”, dust off the dummy and get back to writing.

The point of this ramble is simple: Nothing is ever all one-way. So what if someone liked an article I've written enough to republish it and not give me the little credit I earned? No 'real' skin off my nose and one day Karma will get them. Guaranteed!

There is no doubt about it that article's work well for driving traffic (aka readers and clicks) to your websites. The only real person you hurt when you “spit the dummy” is yourself so to put it mildly, I really don't recommend it. It is definitely dangerous to your wealth