Is this a bad reply?

Had a father e-mail me today that I am "not fair or impartial" in regards to a golf story. Basically, he was pissed because his daughter finished in second place in this tournament and my lede and about 75 percent of the story was about the boys, not girls. I wish I could go to his job and complain about the way he does things, but I can't.
Anyways, I replied to his e-mail by saying "Thanks for the read." Is this bad? I always reply to e-mails, both good and bad, by saying thanks for reading my story. I do appreciate people taking the time and reading my work.

 

Shoulda told him that you would cover girls golf better if they wore the spandex tights like they do in volleyball.

 

I always tell people thank you for reading, whether they're being kind or an ass.

At least they're reading.

 

No explanation you give, no matter how logical, is going to satisfy him. "Thanks for reading" sounds really, really patronizing. Your logical solution is this:

 

Is that all you said? I don't know that being that glib was such a good idea, especially since, as you said on another thread, you're a part-timer.

 

I say something similar everytime someone writes to me as well. It's really interesting, because I have to resist the urge to tell some of the people to fuck off.

 

I really do not care what the guy thinks. He can think what he wants ...

 

As long as they aren't being irate/obscene, I always try to offer a reply to someone with a complaint, no matter how silly that complaint might sound to me.

I think we owe that much to our readers.

I would have sent the guy a reply, politely explaining why you wrote it the way you did, and that would be that.

If all you said was "thanks for reading" -- period -- yeah, that was kind of dickish. We shouldn't act like we're above questions or criticisms. You don't have a write a novel, but a couple of sentences explaining why you did what you did would have been, you know, just basic customer service.

 

I replied again and explained myself. I told him I did appreciate the read, again.

Thanks for the help, all.

 

On second thought, I've covered some pretty hefty female golfers.

Maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all.

 

Good answer.

 

I disagree. It's not patronizing, it's condescending.