Dear Internet Commenter

We are fellow denizens of an especially lovely planet full of wonder and beauty. Okay, it’s true. It’s also full of ugliness and horror. But let’s focus on the positive for a minute.

That the good news. The bad news is that even in the best case scenarios we only get to ride this lovely planet around our sun some seventy-five or so times. That’s assuming we’re well fed, clothed, sheltered and in good health. Most people of the world are none of those things. Some of us are, which is incredibly fortunate for us.

I say this mainly to offer some perspective on why I have elected not to engage in a conversation with you. It’s nothing against you specifically, but here’s the thing: most likely you disagreed with something I wrote and want to express that. I understand that desire. But remember, my thoughts and opinions don’t have to match yours. Yours are equally valid. And not only do these topics not really matter in the grand scheme of things, I don’t matter in the grand scheme of your existence and there’s nothing to gain by pretending otherwise.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care about each others’ opinions, it just means that, given the constraints of our existence here on earth (it’s very time limited), we probably both have better things we could be doing — walking in the sunshine, playing with our kids, watching the sunset from a mountain top, making coffee by a fire just before sunrise, eating tacos, or what have you. There are a lot of amazing things to do out there. Arguing on the internet is not one them.