Compliments from readers make for happier columnist

Last week's column was about how to read your utility bills, which are complicated and, unless you work in Ameren's billing department, meaningless, except for the amount you have to pay. That's very clear.

Do you know what's even more complicated than a utility bill? I'll tell you. It's trying to explain to you why my FRIDAY column wasn't in FRIDAY's paper, and why my FRIDAY column was, indeed, in Sunday's paper, and why my FRIDAY column was not -- and still has not been as I'm writing this -- posted on the newspaper's website where thousands, maybe even millions, of loyal readers go every FRIDAY for a few minutes of whimsy and, yes, codependency.

OK. Maybe that last part about millions of readers is a stretch. It is, however, theoretically possible.

So, given the fuzziness regarding last week's column, let me just say that I wasn't in a good mood when I picked up last Friday's paper and could not find my column. My mood was so black, indeed, that I came this close -- this close -- to pulling the plug on the weekly column.

It was 50 years ago this year that I wrote my first column. It was for my college weekly newspaper. I thought it was a great column. A couple of students said they read it. One of them said he like it. He was my roommate. Maybe he felt he had to say something nice about my column.

It's those comments from readers that keep column writers going. You have no idea how thrilled I am when complete strangers come up to me and say they like my column. Most of them say their favorite columns are about Missy Kitty, the feline ruler of our household. That works out well, because some of my favorite columns to write are about that cat.

So I was still grumpy when I got to church Sunday morning. In the vestibule where parishioners gather prior to the service, several kind souls said they saw my FRIDAY column in Sunday's paper. They arched their eyebrows expectantly, assuming I would have an explanation. They quickly discovered that it's probably best not to push the buttons of a columnist in a foul mood.

Sunday afternoon we went to see "Nunsense," the laugh romp at the River Campus featuring seven incredibly talented women, including our own "opera diva," Judith Farris. Let me name the others, because they deserve it: Kirbi Mason, Michelle Contrino, Hannah Lundy, Sami Gross, Laura Liefer and Alyssa Cooper. What a fine group of actors-singers-dancers. What an afternoon of belly roars.

I haven't laughed nonstop for two hours since I don't know when.

By the way, more performances of "Nunsense" are scheduled for tonight through Sunday. If they aren't sold out, get your tickets right now.

Suffice to say that by the time we left the theater Sunday afternoon, my dark cloud resulting from seeing my FRIDAY column in Sunday's paper had dissipated. I realized I had at least one more column in me: this one.

Several people in the "Nunsense" audience said hello and mentioned my column. One was a former high school classmate from my favorite hometown in the Ozarks over yonder. She and her husband, another classmate, live in Cape Girardeau now. She was kind enough to introduce a friend who also said some extra-nice things about my column.

OK. Maybe two more columns.

See how it works? Complimenting a columnist is like giving Milky Way chocolate-and-caramel bars to a diabetic. We can only stand so much, but we crave more, more, more.

So keep 'em coming, those kind words. And keep watching for my column every FRIDAY.

(Seriously, readers, do you think I've made my point about my FRIDAY column? I sure hope so.)

Joe Sullivan is the retired editor of the Southeast Missourian.

Editor's note: Joe Sullivan's June 20 column was held until the Sunday edition due to a column addition by publisher Jon K. Rust. The column explained that Ozzie Smith would not appear at the Semoball Awards due to attending the funeral of baseball star Tony Gwynn, and Kyle Maynard agreed to speak at the inaugural event. The column switch was made late Thursday due to the breaking nature of the information.