From the Editor's Desk
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Hate Crimes
 

Managing a small press offers several perks:

• You never have to worry about becoming an elitist (because you barely earn a living wage).

• You’re relatively safe from drugs and premarital sex (because you’re working until midnight most nights).

• And, most importantly, you get to feel the raw emotion of your readers up close. (That emotion is primarily hate.)

Occasionally I write or publish stories I expect will generate anger and invective. These stories usually focus on religion, gay marriage, or the Red Sox (in one instance, all three simultaneously), and these stories are the main reason why our mailing address is a PO Box. But sometimes I feel the hate from the least expected sources…

This month, for lack of anything better to write about, I figured I’d share a couple of examples. Although the column basically ends here, you’ll wind up reading somewhat more this trip because, to truly appreciate the hate and enjoy it, you’ll need to read the background, the hate, and my response. I’ve provided links below. And before you start to wonder, yes, everything in my writing was fact-checked. I can’t say the same for the correspondents.

Welcome to my world.

The accidental hate: misguided emotion
In this very column last year, I published a rant on the fallout from the 2004 Super Bowl and Nipplegate. Feeling particularly editorially feisty that month, I actually gave my column nested themes.

Theme 1: Nipplegate was instantaneously blown to proportions a) bad for any business related to the communications industry, and b) so large that it obscured symptoms of some more serious social ills – namely the post-Super Bowl accident in which a Haitian immigrant in an SUV struck and killed a rioter in Boston.

Theme 2: In our listless generation, trouble breeds trouble exponentially; unnecessary rioting begot a fatal accident, which begot a destined-to-be-lopsided court case where a guy will get set up for life.

This column received minimal feedback… until one of the fathers of the kids hit by the SUV felt the need to voice his opinion.

The hypocritical hate: thinly veiled psychological projection
Most religions denounce hate as foolish. In this example, I’d have to say foolishness belongs to the hater. Once or twice a year, Arriviste Press puts out a call for writers. As a company, we view this as a good and noble thing because we actually pay writers (the vast majority of Web sites don’t). I see this as a hassle, namely because I have to write a catchy classified ad, then sift through hundreds of resumes and bad writing to find the few hard-working professionals you read on these pages.

Sadly, we couldn’t even post an ad on Craigslist this year without some hate. On the upside, the sender of the hate is really, really stupid -- which makes for fun reading.

The final thought on all this hate: When all is said and done, it's superfluous. Nothing any of you can write can match our own self-loathing. And anyone who wants my job can have it.

R A Miller

For more Editor's Desk columns, visit the Archives via the button to your left. For last month's column click here.