Be careful what you write and post on the Internet, because it could end up anyplace in the world.

Last winter I wrote a piece that included my opinion of restaurants and shops in a small Midwestern town. I won’t name the town. Thanks to that article, the comments indicated I was a heartless butt-hole who should be run into the river … RV and all.

Local folks have not been unkind in words, but for the most part at least they present an opposing view in a manner that is logical and usually civil. I love comments like that. I just wish those folks would see things my way. (Don’t we all?)

A few days ago I wrote a commentary that started with the Santa Clarita Valley International Charter School having a re-enactment of the Civil War era. Lots of nice comments from local folks, but there was one comment from Mobile, Ala., naming me a “reconstructed nut.” A gentleman who called himself “unreconstructed” signed the comment. He also stated, in all-caps, that America died in 1865, and he admonished us not to join the “misinformed nuts.”

My family history shows that some great-great uncles served in the Union Army as members of the 121st New York Infantry. So in reality, I cannot be “reconstructed” since my family is of good Yankee stock. Reconstruction did not apply to New York state.

So what does this all mean? I don’t know for sure, but in many cases the comments are a result of not reading the whole story and jumping to conclusions based upon the reader’s background. Of course, they could also stem from my inability to write clearly.

Like comments from that little Midwestern town that stated I must love to live with gunshots and sirens going off all night long. I really liked the comment from the same place that stated, “I’ve been to California and don’t think anyplace there is as pretty as right here in…” Well, heck. I’d have a poor impression of California if all I ever saw of it was sitting at LAX, waiting on a flight to Hawaii.

I welcome the comments. Good, bad, nonsensical, crazy and whatever else. Just tells me folks are reading what I write.

A few years ago when I was writing a weekly column in The Signal, I told the story of being on horseback and running out of ammunition. A bunch of us boys were in Placerita Canyon at the time. So we rode into town and went into Newhall Hardware. There we got a supply of new ammo and rode on out to Pico Canyon. I went on to say that maybe I should gather that old group and ride on over to Stevenson Ranch to make sure the West Ranch Town Council would vote right on being annexed into Santa Clarita.

Click the image to read Darryl’s original column that went with this U.S. Navy photograph.

Well, one gentleman took that as a threat. He even lifted a picture from SCVHistory.com of someone shooting a large machine gun at my old ship. He called the sheriff and the publisher of The Signal, saying I was a threat to the community.

A few problems with his line of thought. 1) I was living in Virginia at the time. 2) I don’t own a horse. 3) He had used the photograph without permission. 4) He assumed that since I was military, I must be a violent person.

The Sheriff’s Department laughed it off, and the publisher did, too. Stevenson Ranch is still not within the city of Santa Clarita. I’m thinking now that including it might not be a good thing. One little aside here: If the west side became part of Santa Clarita, they could get plastic bags back at the stores again.

Now, I don’t always do a lot of research for what I write here, yet at times I’ll spend days looking up some little fact that can change the whole story. That is the fun of it all.

I do so enjoy bringing you folks a little bit of “now and then” in our fair little valley. I hope all y’all like it, too. Let me know. I might get a raise. Leon said I could get a raise of 3 or 4 times what I get now. I just wonder how to multiply zero.

That being said, maybe you could write your comment on a $100 bill and mail it to SCVTV. I’d like that. Leon would like that. Even my little basset hound, Mr. Renly, would like that.

Or maybe someone can make me an offer for a real job. I’m qualified to repair submarines and ships, short-order cook, wash dishes, wait on tables, drive big ships, chip and paint ships, and herd cattle and other livestock. Until then, I’ll just keep on doing this.

Thanks.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].