Since you mentioned me, I decided to give you a SP0.0001 worths of my opinion.

Why value so low? Because my opinion tends to waffle, hey yeah - and - oh hell no!

Under the Yeahs and the hell no's:

• Having made a friend or two (actually, two) with you being one of them - this by itself makes hanging out here worth it for me

• Seeing my friends popular, respected and rewarded is of great benefit (even philosophically). Why? Because I've always believed that we have organised our society so that we reward those who treat us like shit and penalise (or at best, ignore) those who are caring and helpful). I'm that stupid guy who stands at the supermarket till and having splurged on that one chocolate a month, I see a kid with her mum looking at my choc, or I see the teller , who I know gets paid peanuts, being friendly and helpful - and I leave without the chocolate, but with something far more precious: a feeling that I did the right thing and made life a bit sweeter for someone else. Had a puncture and someone stops to help me. If I know where to find them, I'll go to them a day or more later (going later is part of the good deed, for it always pleases them that they were not forgotten) with a box of chocolates or a bottle of wine or I'll take them to have a coffee and a chat. In other words, I believe in encouraging and thanking those who are good to me and as for those who are hurtful or bad? If I can and it was trivial, I'll set it aside, if only I was hurt, I may just show anger but let it go. If however, someone hurts someone I love, then I want fullblown revenge. - See? Luckily I am no angel.

• I came to Steemit with different expectations. I had spent 18 years living daily in the world I created for a family of mutants who I love. Of course, being me, I messed up. As a fantasy/SF story, I should have had many readers as I think I sometimes write better than I see in some books that are published. However, I started the book with an intention: I saw how kids were thought of as bodies only by many pedophiles, so I made many of the characters be children, in the hope I can teach them that children, their hearts and minds are far more beautiful and precious than their bodies are. Did it work? I had one, a les girl lover, write to tell me that after reading about little Cherine, she found herself unable to seduce a 12 year old. Another, wrote about Cherine being exactly like his dead eight year old daughter and that I brought her to life for him. Another wrote to say he is in love with his 11 year old cousin and was planning on seducing her, then he read my book and it made him think of her - and whether she will hate him once she is a grown up, so he did nothing...and she and her family moved, so thank god she is safe from him.

• I should not have been a popular visitor at these sites, for I was always fighting to make it impossible for them to want to actually hurt a child. It did lead to many posting private messages, confessing how they just tried to commit suicide because of knowing they will never be loved.

• The books are condemned to be lost, to disappear, on the day I die. So I then learnt of the blockchain, believed what I read and jumped at the chance of 'immortalising' at least a few of the books (even 3 out of 13 would help make me feel I succeeded).

Living in South Africa on a govt pension means I did hope, for a while, to make some extra cash, but I kept forgetting about it as I found much else that filled my life. Friends I made, as I mentioned, even the acquaintances are nice to have; helping a few newpbies, especially those I feel may have some talent or are nice people. I have been offered ways to make money, by joining communities, but I have always been a lone wolf. However, I have seen it work. A young man who writes pleasant little posts about himself, his family, his walks to work, all with photos, because he is a loved member of his community and is always nice to everyone, he has risen in rep far above me and often makes 15 to 30 steem/SP for his posts. Each time I see him do well, I am so glad, for I know how frightened he is, having a wife and child to care for, that he might not earn enough at his job or even be fired and then fail his family. This gives him a small safety net...

My dear friend, Steemit, as with all things idealised, will not and cannot live up to our expectations and hopes, but we can still get value out of it - it all depends on what we want and what we offer. You have been an inspiration and helped others - even at a cost to you, so I cannot believe you have not been rewarded by being at Steemit, even if it has not been in the ways you hoped for.

I hope that my opening up about my books has not lost me my few friends here (as it lost me two of my most loved family members who no longer want to know me), but if you have tried reading any of the posts about Cherine, you will have been wondering, so I felt I owe the explanation to those who have stood by me. btw - I am writing a silly SF/Fantasy story, my first real attempt for years now. It is a light story, about what makes any specie a 'human' and the effect of any specie setting rules as to what qualifies others as human. I will not start posting until I see I am well into it - or else I will start to feel I cannot live up to the expectations of others and give up :)

Whether you, ultimately, go or stay, I will always think of you as a friend.