The blog I couldn't stop reading was "Random Acts of Reality" by London Ambulance Service worker Tom Reynolds. It's insane that I can enter the gritty world of disease and violence in London through the eyes of a contemporary EMT. Without the blogosphere, I wouldn't be able to witness emergency medical situations in London until five or ten years down the line when (mayyyybe) someone might make a documentary or write a novel about their experiences. It would be a time lapse, though; I wouldn't be able to see what's happening right now, as Tom's blog has allowed me to do.
"Random Acts of Reality" enriches not only Tom's life but those of all his readers. While Tom has found a new hobby that allows his to re-hash and analyze his life on a new level, his viewers not only are reminded not to take LAS for granted or call 999 (London's 911) in unnecessary situations, but they are also entertained and become emotionally invested in the life of someone perhaps across the globe from them. It's a new category of relationship, this one between a random blogger and his random viewers. With both the blogger's interest in writing himself into being and the readers' interest in engaging in the blogger's reality, a strong bond is formed. In fact, as Jane Perrone's article said, Tom's readers anxiously followed him along a three-month scare that he might have contracted HIV on duty because an HIV-positive medical patient coughed vomit and blood into his mouth.
Shy, kind Tom has made himself into a media creator--an influencer--through a simple blog. He has been interviewed on the news in London (click here to view on YouTube, and he has written a book called "Blood Sweat and Tea" (click here to view it in Amazon.com). His mixture of tender wit and modest tone with the gravity of his work with the London Ambulance Service has charmed many, bringing them happily into the realm of Tom's blog, which is yet another amazing demonstration of the power of the blogosphere in today's global village.
1 comment:
This was also my favorite blog, which I couldn't stop reading. It's so honest, so simply and clearly written. I appreciate that he shares his thoughts and experiences, and, as you said, it allows people to better understand another field they may not otherwise have access to. :)
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