Dealing With Fools

Do not answer a fool according to his folly” Proverbs 26:4

One of the sad realities of owning an ezine is that from time to time you will encounter fools.

Fools that take offense to something that you have written and decide to send you horrible, abusive messages.

When This Happens You Have Three Choices.

Lets examine each one and see which has the best merits.

1. You Can React.

Someone sends you a profane, abusive message. They rave on about how much they dislike you – or your website – or your newsletter.

I even had one guy write and say; “I hate your ezine. I hope that you and your family all get cancer and die!”

Now the human reaction is to think: “Who does this guy think that he is? How dare he send me stuff like this” I’ll give him a piece of my mind…”

The problem with reacting is that you end up giving precious ‘mental energy’ to dealing with a fool.

It just isn’t worth it.

Fools cannot be reasoned with.

If they could, they would not have sent you an abusive message in the first place.

Writing back and saying something like; “Oh Dear! Does your Mommy know that you are off the medication again?” might make you feel better – momentarily – but it could add fuel to the fire and you could end up with some complete lunatic whose only purpose in life is to think up new ways to annoy you.

Besides, you have better things to focus on.

2. You Can Respond.

Here is what I do. I check their e-mail address against my subscriber base and simply delete them.

I remind myself that the good book says: “Do not answer a fool according to his folly” and I make a “decision divorced from emotions” to not give the fool a nanno-second of my precious time.

The result?

I experience less stress and focus on the good aspects of my life.

Oh, did I mention that I add them to my blocked senders list so that if they try to contact me in the future, their message simply goes into my deleted items folder?

3. You Can Report Them.

Lets say that someone sends you a life-threatening email. (I’ve had it happen) What should you do then?

I report them.

I contact their ISP (Internet Service Provider) I go to their website, look for the contact button and explain what has happened and that I will hold them legally responsible should they allow the individual in question to continue using their service to harass me in any way via e-mail.

The Result? Most ISP’s worth their salt will immediately delete the individuals account.

I also would report their threats to the police.

React

Respond

Or Report.

The first will only lead to stress.

The second will deal with 99.9% of the situations you will ever face.

The third is the best way to deal with any serious threats.

I hope that this helps.

Remember – look at things in perspective. At the time of writing I have tens of thousands of opt-in readers to my various online newsletters and can count on the fingers of one hand the number of fools that contact us with abuse and hate mail each month.

Look on the bright side.

Focus on the positive!