Despite the fact that I am a daily “web surfer” – it still amazes me that we have the technology to communicate with people that we never even met in person on the other side of the globe with a simple click of a mouse. And even though I do this every day when I send out the South Park Digest – it never ceases to amaze me that I have the ability to interact with 53,000 people a day without ever leaving my home.

But besides the simple interaction that comes with sending an online Digest, the true reward of my job as Moderator comes when I meet those few people that are sincere and genuine enough to do something so generous, so personal, so thoughtful – and so sincere for me that it leaves me speechless. Someone who would go that extra mile for someone they have never even met – and someone who would spend money they could otherwise use in their lives to send something halfway around the world just because I send her two e-mails a day.

In my daily communication with the members of the South Park Booster Club, I mention – in addition to the latest goings on in South Park – the latest goings on in my own life. From the death of my best friend to my plans for the weekend to my likes and dislikes. Basically, it’s like having 53,000 pen pals.

Among those pen pals is a woman named Montel who lives in Juneau, Alaska. At first, she was just one more of the hundreds of “Marklars” or members that sent in her daily post – but after a few personal e-mails, phone conversations and “IMs” – she has become someone who I look forward to talking to – and a great friend that I never met.

In getting to know each other, she has learned of my affection for beer. So since my birthday was approaching – she decided that she would send me a sample of Juneau’s Alaskan Amber, which is brewed in her home town and not available here in Brooklyn, New York. I was eagerly looking forward to receiving this gift because I have never tried the beer and am always interested in trying beers from different corners of the world.

When the beer finally arrived from Montel, I discovered that she did not send me a bottle of beer – she sent me three cases.

Upon receiving the beer, which I immediately classified as the most generous gift I have ever received, I could not believe that she did what she did. Here is a woman who has never met me in person, has no idea what it feels like to talk to me without the use of a telephone, computer modem or keyboard – and has never even been in the same room with me – and yet decided to send me three cases of beer that no doubt cost her a fortune that was only topped by the amount of shipping that it costs to send three heavy cases of liquid to the other side of the Earth.

The moment I received the packages, I called her and told her that even if I never speak to her again from the moment I hang up the phone – I will never forget her and her generosity. Sure, I’m “The Moderator” – but to her – I’m someone who meant enough to her that she went out of her way to make sure that she sent me the greatest gift I have ever received. Even though I can not hug her for what she did – she deserves a big one.

Cheers Montel – and thank you.