MOULTRIE, Ga. — The really neat thing about the internet is that you can put stuff out there  for the whole world to view.  And another neat thing is that you can readily partake of all the stuff the rest of the world has put out there. Also, you can be alerted to those things that interest you most.

In other words, Google tells all!

And so a fellow from Arizona emailed me last week and suggested that one of my columns had been plagiarized. The column he referred to was the one I wrote about never having mastered pipe smoking.

As it turns out, this Arizona fellow is a pipe aficionado.  And so if there’s anything posted about pipes, he searches the internet for it.

He informed me that several days after my column was posted, another column popped up. He sent me the link, noting that it appeared my work had been lifted.

So I clicked on the link, and sure enough someone in Tennessee had taken a good portion of what I had written , changed a few words and claimed it as his own.

Now through the years I’ve written thousands of personal columns. Many of them have been reprinted in other media and even in other countries … much to my surprise. But they were published under my name.

I have no idea if I’ve ever been plagiarized before. In fact, it never occurred to me that anyone would want to claim my musings as their own because I mostly write about everyday regular stuff and some stuff that might be irregular.

I often get responses which I enjoy reading, although some are not so cordial. Sometimes when I write about the paranormal or Bigfoot  I get caustic remarks from believers.

One Bigfoot enthusiast even invited me to Texas on a Bigfoot hunt. I guess a Bigfoot in Texas would be bigger than a Bigfoot from Georgia. But I drove across Texas once, and I don’t know where a Bigfoot would hide out there.

These particular respondents have advised me that just because I haven’t seen one doesn’t mean they don’t exist. I advised them that I also haven’t seen a unicorn nor Puff the Magic Dragon — although I did smell him once at a concert in Atlanta.

Now the column about pipe smoking arose from an email offer on pipe accessories. I didn’t know there were pipe accessories. One of the accessories I mentioned was a special pipe ash tray which I said must be different from a mayonnaise jar lid. The person who kidnapped my deep thoughts did change his to a mustard lid.

Oh well, as I explained to my new-found friend in Arizona, in recent months I have found things that might have upset me in earlier times don’t really bother me that much anymore. And it’s not like I wrote a hit song and someone stole it. Like I said, just regular stuff.

My Arizona friend reminded me that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. So I guess that’s the second time recently that I’ve been flattered. A few days ago my doctor at Mayo Clinic told me that I looked a good bit younger than my actual age.

Of course I keep looking at my bills to see where that compliment has been itemized. (Just kidding. He’s a really good doctor.)

Now earlier I mentioned a cigar club. I’ve never been a member of one although I have been invited to attend one of their gatherings. So I asked if a Tampa Nugget would be acceptable. I haven’t heard back from them.

(Dwain Walden is editor/publisher of The Moultrie Observer. Email: dwain.walden@gaflnews.com)