A couple of weeks ago I got some hate mail. I view hate mail as an overall good thing. Why? Because if you do some kind of a blog or show or podcast and you don't get ANY hate mail, it typically means that not enough people are paying attention.
What makes this all the more amusing is that it's from a friend. I know this guy, and I know he's one of those friends who goes for the "harsh truth" approach to what he thinks is helping. But, as we'll see, he's far from seeing the whole picture. I didn't go soft on him, though. Here's the original email:
Subject: i think your losing it
ok, Dio is dead, really breaks my heart, I wish I had met him at some point, he really influenced my life and my philosophy through his life's work, we need more like him.
as far as all that crap stuff you have that you cant deal with,.just throw it out, i own nearly nothing that doesnt have a purpose,
i say you pick up a sport that doesn't allow clutter, bike riding and boating are perfect, there is nothing on a ship that doesnt have a function, and on a bicycle even less
and ps , fuck gary coleman, once he was an adult, he was a loser
I'll take you fishing some day if you want to see a clutter less environment
Here was the response I sent him:
Gee, where to begin.
1) It's "YOU'RE losing it", not "YOUR losing it".
2) Yes, it sucks that Dio is gone. I'm glad you and I got to see him at RCMH though. But I don't see what any of that has to do with my "stuff" blog. Surely, you don't think that I suddenly acquired this problem and started this blog in the wake of his death, do you? I've been a packrat for years, and started the blog about a year ago.
3) To say "just throw it out" is as idiotic and ignorant as telling an alcoholic "just stop after one beer". You'd have to be completely fucking stupid to think that it would be that simple for the person with the problem. If it WAS that simple, then obviously, I wouldn't have the problem in the first place. So you're obviously quite clueless as to the nature of the problem and compulsive disorders in general, never mind the progress I made.
4) Speaking of being clueless, you're also ridiculously wrong in assuming that taking up a sport would somehow not lead to any more clutter. There are indeed bicyclers, to use one of your sporting examples, who are compulsive hoarders. And not surprisingly, a lot of them acquire bicycle-related clutter, either bought on their own or as gifts, that they don't get rid of: extra helmets, locks, numerous squeezy bottles, stacks of bicycling magazines they don't read, extra socket wrenches, bicycle parts, riding gadgets...the list goes on. Getting a new hobby would, if anything, ADD to my clutter. (And again, you are a fucking moron if you think the answer is "Well just don't buy those extra things, then.")
5) Say what you want about Coleman; I still stand by every word I said on the blog. He was still better than Jesus.
6) Thanks for the offer, but I have absolutely no desire to go fishing. And I don't need to "see a clutterless environment". That won't solve anything. I already have enough painful reminders of what one looks like.
Oh well, I least I got a new relevant blog entry out of it!
