First and foremost, I just wanted to clear the air on something. Lately I've been getting a few emails from people assuming I own this blog, Real Life Debt. Sorry. I'm just a writer, and right now I don't have a regular Internet access so I apologize for not getting back to you any sooner, but a gal can only do so much ;)

Anywho, a friend has taken to calling me "Mother Hen." The ironic part - Tom (as I'll call him here) is nearly twice my age.

Lately, with gas prices and food prices as they are, a lot of the people around me have been going through some pretty serious financial hardships. The whole "Mother Hen" business started when I was visiting Tom with another changed-name friend Allen.

Allen needed to use a regular type computer to list some things on Craig's List for sale, so we were going to a library. When we did get to the library, Allen decided to sit outside and chat with his girls in the Philippines on his cell phone for a few hours instead.

Unfortunately, we were only at the library for a few hours because, well, Tom got kicked out. Now, both of these men are in their 40's, I shouldn't have to bring up their behavior, but I was at wit's end - especially with Allen.

You see, Allen has been out of a job about a month after quitting his job a second time to "do his own thing" because he felt the salary ($400 a week - one of the highest I've seen in South Carolina) was insulting. That would be all fine well and good if "his own thing" was anything but what he did - which was put his desktop computer in his truck and run said truck to run the computer to chat with these girls in the Philippines on dwindling cash.

I chastised Allen for not coming into the library, and that's when Tom called me "Mother Hen." Ever since, he's addressed me as such. I'm still not quite sure how to take it.