Opinion: Are you under the sway of kind influencers?

First, some disclaimers.

When my son Gideon was in kindergarten and first grade, I indulged him by recording countless hours of hyperactive, unseen-outside-the-family DVDs he called The Gideon Channel. For more than seven years, we have made annual trips to the local radio station to cut commercials for my retail day job.

But that's as far as I exploit him (outside of this column). So, I was flabb...