So do I, Greg. I suspect some people embellish their litany of personal traumas, tragedies, and handicaps, to keep readers engaged, and it seems to work. Victim porn is an easy sell to a gullible public who feel better reading about your supposedly crappy life because it’s so much worse than theirs. They paid for a subscription. Somebody’s getting their money this month, it might as well be you.

But using your following to solicit funds from kind-hearted people, including writers not making a tenth of what you do on this platform, seems excessive. Crowdfunding can be great, but there’s no accountability. If this person decides not to go through with the procedure (or never intended to in the first place), they can spend it on anything.