Great article! It’s really nice to hear this story written by someone who actually has experienced with the situation and people it talks about.

I would like to offer some explanation for the Cracked article, however. I was interviewed for a completely unrelated Cracked article recently. I sent the pitch via email about a year ago after reading one of the personal experience articles. Two months ago I was emailed out of the blue to say that they would love to do a Skype interview the next day. I did, and the person I spoke to was lovely. We spoke for a few hours, and tried to figure out how my story would fit into a list form. Eventually we signed off and I didn’t hear from her for a while. The next email was the rough draft she had written up and sent to me for approval before sending it on to the editors and more well known writers. I approved the version I was given and didn’t hear anything for a while… until I was sent the new edited version which was very different. Then the editors decided that a different aspect of the story was more interesting and they were going to do a rewrite and interview more people. I was sent a new rough draft from my initial contact which was, again, good. Then it went on to be rewritten by one of the main writers. The latest version bears almost no resemblance to the original story and some aspects are exaggerated or ignored. It still hasn’t been posted. I expect to see a few more ‘creative revisions’ happening before it eventually goes online. Quotes out of context. Strange choices of emphasis. It’s possible that something similar happened here. It is rather disheartening. I understand that editing occurs, but it gets to be a problem when the writers and editors don’t do the interviews. This is why I appreciated your article. You actually talked to the people. That’s great.

Also sorry for commenting on two of your articles in such a short time. I have no life. Your writing is good. I hope I’m not coming across as mean or nit picky.