I’m going to have to teach you how to comment or neither one of us will be happy

It has come to my attention that many of my readers are not, let us say, of the Digital Generation. That explains why I get emails – instead of comments – from friends and neighbors who’d like to join the conversation here. This is frustrating to you, because you’d like to see your “Letters to the Editor (Blogger)” in, er, print. It’s frustrating to me, too, because I’d like to know what you think, and I assume everyone else in the Township would like to know what you think, too. Thus the tutorial.

See the little gizmo at the bottom of this post? (Post is another word for article.) Where it says “No Comments yet . . . ” or “2 comments” – see that? Well, if you press that, it takes you to a link where you can add your own thoughts to the conversation. Your comment will be attached to the page where you take it into your head to write, so if you’ve wandered over to “About Us” or “Ourstory” that’s where it will go, even if you meant to send a compliment about the latest stunning photo by Babs Young. Just so you know.

Do not be disappointed if you do not see your comment immediately. I moderate comments on this blog. That is to protect you from, let us say, unpleasantness, and me from the embarrassment of explaining to you how the Unpleasantness came to be posted here. If you are civil, even if you say you think I am full of turkey poop, I will print your comment. (You can see that I have a fairly broad definition of “civil.”) If you are uncivil I will politely delete you from my comment queue.

If you are a spammer I will sic my dogs on you. (Miss Sadie is a sweetheart, but she has experience with the difficult side of life, and has no patience with evildoers. The Cowboy is a genial soul who is surprisingly determined. He will, if provoked, bite your ankles with a determination that will shock and awe you. Stand warned.) Worse, I will sic my cat on you. Miss Puss may be small, but she is fierce. She once bested a Great Horned Owl. I am willing to bet that you have not done that.

If you send a Comment – to be sure, a civil comment – it will be posted, even if your opinion differs from my own. (See Comments Policy.)  If you send an email, I will assume that you meant the communication to be private, and will not post it on the blog. If you press the Contact Us link over there at the top of the right column, you will email me.

If you’ve mastered email but just can’t figure out this commenting thing, that’s OK. Just let me know in your email that you’d like to have it published as a comment, and I’ll take care of it. No matter how you get in touch, I won’t publish your email address.

No one under 40 is the least bit confused by all this. On the other hand, many people under 40 lack sufficient life experience to understand true confusion, so don’t feel bad about it. I figure we earned our befuddlement the hard way, one massive foulup at a time. They can do the same.

Next tutorial: “Are you making any money on this thing?” Advertising on blogs, blogging for pay, and other mysterious undertakings. And the short answer is No, but hope springs eternal.