Dear Prudence,
“Kirk” works for a company that’s a customer of my company. Before I was promoted into my current job, I worked closely with Kirk’s company, and I still maintain a friendly relationship with many people there. Kirk and I have had a friendly sports rivalry for the past few years. He regularly texts me, sometimes including others, when our two teams play. These smack-talk sessions have become increasingly rude on his part. He criticizes the place I come from and describes us as inbred. He’s called me an idiot for liking my hometown team. He calls the team captain a sissy and a girl (I’m a woman). He made disparaging remarks about a bus crash involving several players.
I don’t say much back except “Go [team]!” and reaffirming my love for my hometown. I sometimes ignore him, but he still sends me a ton of messages. Now our teams are facing off in the playoffs, so I expect a lot more of this. If my company didn’t need to have a good relationship with his, I would have blocked him by now.
—Enough Already