Back in 2006, I posted a list of the things I hated most on my personal blog. It was a pretty humorous list, since I ranted against everything, from commuters to television commercials. Yes, I’m shallow. But that’s not the point.

Anyway, so one of the items in my list was “stupid commercials”, and I mentioned two of the tv ads I loathed most during that time, i.e. Smart (the melodramatic, “I’m a paraplegic but I can act” ones) and Neozep (Miguelito and some girl). Why did I include them in my list? Because I hated them. Can’t get any simpler than that.

Obviously, I was shocked to find an e-mail one day with the subject “Constructive Criticism!!! Watch Out!!!!”. I’m not exaggerating the number of exclamation points. Here’s a bit of what she wrote:

“First of all… we would like to comment about how your outlook in soap operatic commercials like the neozep and smart tvc….
Secondly… You should be the one who should be thrown out of the window, or flush yourself then down the toilet….
Gurl! The tv commercials are for people who understands the value of life, so to speak…
Tsk tsk.. wala ka na ngang value of life.. wala ka pang sense of humor!!!
I shouldn’t be wasting my time on you..
Though… I just need to say this things..
coz you are included in my list of hatest things upon reading your blog!”

I was stunned, to say the least, by her astounding inability to grasp fundamental grammar rules. But anyway, it was sort of fun, too, since it was my first hate mail ever (to see the full letter and my response, click here). It sort of was an ego boost, too, to be honest.

But that’s not the end of it. Since I posted my response on my blog, dear reader decided to comment again and even brought a friend with her this time. This time, the response was even more rabid, had more exclamation marks and were even less classy than the first. Read it here.

So how do you handle hate mail? For me, hate letters have a few things in common:

1. Content is illogical;
2. Use of coarse/rude language;
3. Ad hominem attacks.

Rarely would you find writers of hate mail taking the time to breathe and rethink the things they spew. Of course if they did it wouldn’t be hate mail anymore, but anyway. The point is, it’s very easy and tempting to lash back. In my case, the writers of the hate mail I received were amusing, though no less annoying. As you can see, they were obviously baiting, hoping that I would start some sort of online word war.

Newsflash: that’s retarded.

The best thing to do when faced with hate mail is to ignore them. Or maybe indulge yourself and respond a grand total of ONCE. Anything more would escalate into a nasty, unnecessary exchange of words, not to mention leave you feeling and looking cheap in front of your other readers.

Take the high road, expose these weird hate mail writers (as I did, to good effect) and just keep on writing.

XOXO,