This space is valuable, both in terms of the knowledge it can impart, and in its value to those who have a message they wish to convey. Take, for instance, the very first installment of “Common Sense” in the Newton Daily News.

If you remember, I made a not-so-subtle plea for help looking for a home to rent. And, if you also remember, I never made that request in this space again. That would be because I didn’t have to. By the end of the first day, I had five phone calls and two emails, including one from the man I will soon be renting a home from in Newton.

“Well, that’s your column, so of course it’s being read,” the naysayers will charge.