Believing My "Press"

Once in a while I glance at the comments file on this blog in order to keep the non-postable comments from overrunning the box. Of course, by that I mean the ones that are in the file named after the food from down the road in Austin, MN. If I want to boost my ego, that sure is the place to go. There's all kinds of wonderful comments to be found there. According to those "dedicated readers" I am the best writer, blogger, insight-giver on the whole world wide web.

I really enjoy how many different ways people find my blog, too. There's the cousin who recommended it; the search unnamed engine; the random surfing. These wonderful people are now about to become my biggest fan and share what I have to say from here to wherever they might be able to go.

I can feel my ego rising every time I read them.

But they are named after SPiced hAM for a reason.

To mix metaphors, they are baloney.

After all these wonderful things about me and my writing and blog design, oh, BTW, stop by their blog and see how good they are, give them advice about how I managed to be so great, or just generally find my way to their home for some unknown reason.

Every now and then I wonder what kind of person or persons is behind these. What email list will I find myself on if I gave in to their praise or what virus might be lurking, just waiting for my supposedly naive innocence to be hooked?

Then I wonder who believes these? Or perhaps, since I assume they are automated, would people reading a blog with un-moderated comments be crazy enough to follow a link in one of these obviously fake comments?

But you know, there are obviously enough naive, gullible people out there. We regularly hear about someone falling for some fraudulent phone call and losing their life-savings. The odds are small to hook someone with these, but with the countless opportunities, the miniscule percentage is probably enough.

In the meanwhile I will attempt to keep my ego in check when I go to delete the spiced ham. Tempting? Sure. But at least at the moment I hope I know better than to believe my press.