Oh woe is me....

So a couple of friends of mine put this "vote for me!!!!" button on their blogs. It's supposed to show you how many friends and admirers you have in Blog World. Because I'm the kinda gal that always answered yes to my Mom when she asked if-my-friends-jumped-off-a-bridge-would-you-do-it-too, I immediately added the same button to my blog.

I knew, of course, in my heart of hearts, that I was setting myself up for a depression-inducing disappointment. After all, these friends of mine network. They are employed. The type of employment that actually gives them a paycheck (not like when I loftily answer that yes, I work, I work taking care of my family).

The one friend made it into the top, like 15 or something in what seemed like a matter of hours. When the second friend joined (she, not so high in the networking thing as Friend 1), I was impressed to see that she was actually in like the top 100 the very next day.

So when I threw my hat into the ring, I didn't expect much, as my networking pretty much extends to about 4 gals I have coffee with every now and then, a few far-flung relations, and a few old high school and/or childhood friends on FB. Beyond that, I'm only networked with my four-legged fans, and their internet is too sketchy for them to be able to reliably vote for me.

Still, I thought, there are like 11 or 1200 blogs on this ranking list. I can count on more than one hand the number of people that follow my blog and it's pretty well established. I wouldn't have too bad a showing. So I optimistically checked the site today, my first day, to see my standing. Would I be in the top 600? The top 500? Do I hear 400?

OK, try 986. That's right. Bottom of the barrel.

Oh the wailing, the hanging of the head, the pulling of the hair when I realized I had no friends. No admirers. Not one follower with a functional index finger to push a button.

And now I have an awful decision to make. Do I:
1) remove said button from my blog and pretend the whole thing never happened?
2) actually campaign aggressively by begging for votes from my few dozen friends on FB?
3) get a life?

What if I campaign, but in spite of my efforts still lie lifeless at the bottom of the ranking list? Will my grief and despair throw me into a coma? What would that do to my family? Who would make them chocolate chip pancakes on snow days? Who would slip them $10 when they head to the mall with friends? Who would pick up their dirty socks (yes, embarrassingly enough, I do this from time to time. Don't judge me.)?

I must persevere.

Vote for me. If not for me, then for the children.