[patio11]

You know the "send in the puppet" trick for dealing with abusive customers? (Pretend the customer is talking to a puppet, your only job is to manipulate the puppet such that the customer and the business reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion. If the customer curses a blue streak at the puppet, no biggie, the puppet doesn't care.) If you feel like comment threads are getting you down, send in the puppet. Hah, silly trolls, spending all that time tearing into a puppet. The puppet doesn't care.

[kalid]

Thanks for posting that tidbit -- it's a nice way to separate yourself from the conversation. Really, we shouldn't feel attached to what we write (we are not our works) but it's difficult to fight that part of human nature. I think this is a clever, practical antidote.