MUSCATINE, Iowa — It had to happen eventually. After all, this is a blog on the Internet.
At 1:21 a.m. today, someone created what appears to be an email address that he or she most likely used just to register a screen name on this blog in order to comment. I even agreed with most of what was said in the comment, but that is beside the point.
At this point, this blog is not a commercial endeavor. It’s just something to do while I figure out what to really do with the rest of my life. It’s also a way to still interact with some of the very nice people who have said they liked what I used to write for that unnamed newspaper. Some of them have been telling their friends and I may have even picked up a few new readers in the past week. All of that is great and I am grateful.
But I’d like to point out that my mom is one of the people reading this. At least I think she is. And with that in mind, I’d like to keep the conversation friendly — even when we disagree. A good rule of thumb is to not say anything you wouldn’t want my mom — or yours — to hear.
Since it’s harder to argue with people we know and like, I am going to steer clear of anything that even has a whiff of troll-like Internet behavior. I ask that you use a real name — at least a real first name — when you make comments.
And at an absolute minimum, you need to use something that looks like a real email address when you register. What does that look like? I’m going to approach it the way the U.S. Supreme Court has approached pornography: I’ll know it when I see it. And elrushbo@eibnet.com won’t cut it.
So far, 50-some people have subscribed to this blog. That means they get an email update whenever something is posted. More people are following it on Twitter and Facebook. And I’m pretty confident that most of them will be on board with my sentiments about this.
WordPress is set up so that the first time someone posts a comment, it goes into a queue until I approve it. Once it has been approved, your comments will be automatically posted. Those who won’t comply with my request about this just won’t have their initial comment approved.
If you are unhappy about this, all I can says is: Go somewhere else. It’s not as if I am making money by your being here. Start your own blog. It’s not hard to do. After all, even I figured it out and so can you. I wish you well.
Contact me at cs.iowaboy@yahoo.com or on Twitter @csteinbach.
Brome Hill 
I always wonder what happened in someone’s childhood to turn him or her into a…well, jerk is the word my mom would approve of. And how can they think it’s OK to intentionally do or say something that hurts another person?
I’m glad that the people I spend the most time with are not like that, and glad that you’re fighting the good fight, Chris!
Yes, I read your blog, Chris. Don’t worry whatever someone says is not going to upset me. I have dealt with the dumb didiots of the world before. It is better to follow what I always heard growing up, if you can’t say something nice, then don’t say anything.
I think one learns the behaviors and attitudes they exhibit. My grandmother would constantly monitor us grandkids. When we got astray of her “Golden Rule” approach to interacting with others she would quickly and sternly take us to task then enlighten us on why what we were doing, or saying was wrong. I, and my wife likewise raised our kids in the same manner, and our oldest so son and our daughter are likewise raising theirs the same.