I wrote a post on March 28 where I provided a message from a representative from China who wanted me to contract with his company to make cheap, low-quality, crappy boots (adjectives added.)

I asked in my post what you would say in a reply if you received such an email, and said that I would tell you later what I did.

What did I do with that email? I deleted it. No reply.

Why?

I realize that most of these people who write to me, eager to do business with me, do not speak English and do not know how to communicate in my native tongue. They may use on-line translators or ask a friend for a translation of what they want to say. The result is a poor translation of what they wanted to say.

I also realize that these people have no idea what my website is about — to display my own boot collection, and to show images of all angles of the boots, with a description of their color, height, and manufacturing techniques. However, I do not sell boots; I do not own a store that sells boots; and I definitely would not buy or resell cheap crap made in China or Pakistan.

A reply to such an email invites more dialogue for a useless purpose. Rather than call names and act like a holier-than-thou American, I just delete these messages. No sense in having a further conversation, causing confusion and probably more junk email than I have time to deal with.

Life is short: realize that sometimes, no communication is better than bad communication.