Last night, I had a few of my fellow Gothamist Foodies over, so on my way home, I stopped at the Whole Foods in Chelsea for some nibbles.  I’m walking around, doing my thing, and I notice this woman who looks familiar.  It took a second, and then I thought to myself — that’s Smitten!  We’ve commented on each other’s blogs, and I knew she lived or worked near that Whole Foods from one of her comments, we’ve emailed with each other a bit about a friend of mine who’s a wedding photographer, and we’re on each other’s link lists.  I realized suddenly that I couldn’t very well call her "Smitten," and it took me a bit of brain-searching to dig for her real name. Hmm . . . . Ah.  Got it.   

"Excuse me," I said tentatively, "but is your name Deb?" 
"Yes," she replied. 
"I’m Laren." 
"I know who you are!" she smiled. 
"And I know who you are!" 

We chatted for a while, then went our separate ways.

I always enjoy meeting people from my blogosphere in real life, however briefly.  And encounters like that just show how small New York really is — the more people I meet, the smaller it gets, and I kinda like that sometimes.

So I was busted again yesterday.  I was at a meeting of professional colleagues yesterday — let’s just say it was a room full of folks who have the kind of job that I want.  (I’m that close . . . but not quite there). Anyhow, a few of them know about my blogging; more about the stuff I do for Gothamist Food than about this site, but one guy didn’t know about it, and was very hurt to learn that I had been "hiding" my food knowledge from him!  He was teasing, of course, and I managed to redeem myself by taking a bunch of these folks to the Burger Joint, which they loved (although they joked that their respective law firms weren’t going to believe how cheap their dinners were). 

I also learned that one of these folks has a blog.  I’m not even going to link to it now, because he seemed somewhat concerned about work people discovering it, as it’s a tad more racy and less vanilla than my site.  But as far as I’m concerned, there’s an unwritten code among bloggers.  It’s kind of like Vegas — what happens here stays here.  I’m not going to tell anyone about his blog, or what I read on his blog, or discuss it in front of anyone we know.  The two worlds are completely compartmentalized, and all secrets are safe and sacred.  I have to admit, though, it’s somewhat comforting to know that I have a fellow blogger out there in my professional world, and that there is a bit of overlap. 

And on a completely unrelated note, go to Moveable Hype 2.0 tonight — I’ll be there, possibly wearing an obscenely snug Gothamist t-shirt.

So when is it appropriate to tell someone you’re dating or planning to go out with about your blog (or in my case, blogs)?  My gut reaction is — look, this is part of who I am, it comes with the territory, so get used to it.  And certainly, this blog and Gothamist Food are hardly places where I air my dirty laundry, tell my tales of dating woe, or bare my deepest, darkest thoughts, so I can’t imagine that anyone would really have a problem with it.

But I had a recent experience trying to schedule a date with someone I had met on JDate (yes, I’ve had a relapse.  I don’t want to discuss it).  I sent him an email from this old hotmail account which I used to use for online dating and blog-related stuff before I got my sweetblogomine.com domain.  Instead of my first and last name being displayed, I am identified as "Laren at Sweet Blog o’ Mine."  He responded to one of my emails and replaced whatever the subject line had been previously with "Sweet Blog o’ Mine."  Busted.  I did what anyone in my situation might do — completely ignore what he had done and continue with our ridiculous scheduling negotiations (I’m starting to think that scheduling is one of the primary obstacles to dating in this city — at least dating anyone interesting).  We’re set to go out next week, but I’d imagine that he might peek over here before then. 

When I think about the guys I’ve gone out with over the past year, it’s kind of a mixed bag — I know that some of them read my blog.  Some while we were dating, and one blind date even read up on me before our date so he could get the inside scoop.  I’ve never dated a blogger, so I don’t really know what that’s like, but I’d imagine it must be sort of weird reading up on someone’s life, but it might actually provide some degree of insight.

What about you?  Do you tell or not?  When?  Why?  I don’t think Ms. Manners has an official rule on this one, so I turn to you for the answer.

I know that people in law firms are reading this — now get out there, talk to your managing partners and pro bono folks, and tell them this:

Pro bono has a significant impact on a law firm’s bottom line – the most successful law firms in the country have strong pro bono programs, which give them a competitive edge in recruiting, retention, and even client development.  Increasingly, large law firms are finding that one of the most effective ways to handle their pro bono programs is to hire a full-time pro bono coordinator, whose primary job responsibility is to run your firm’s program efficiently and smoothly.  A pro bono coordinator can take administrative functions out of the hands of partners and other attorneys, freeing them to bill their valuable time to clients and pro bono matters.  Such a coordinator can illustrate your commitment to pro bono to the community at large and can maximize your firm’s impact on clients who need pro bono legal help.

And then tell them that you know the perfect person for that job.