Letters to the Editor
coast-to-coast
Published Letters: 8 Editor's Choice: 1
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Break it off
[Read the article: I'm a small-town girl dreaming of the big-city lights]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It might seem unclear to you because you're right in the thick of it, but from you've written it would be obvious to anyone else that option b. is the only choice.
25 might be getting old in your town (it was like that in my home town, too) but there's still a whole lot of life left at 25. Don't limit yourself. You can do better, but only if you make it happen and get out now.
I did it a few years younger than you - and moved continents, not just cities - and though it took me a while to find my way, I catch myself thinking "look at you! could you have even imagined being here and doing this, even four or five years ago?" all the time. It's awesome. It amazes me, and I amaze me, because I took a huge old gamble and made it work. I'm proud of myself. I wouldn't have been proud if I'd stayed home and married one of the factory boys, like I was supposed to.
The world only gets bigger if you keep stretching the boundaries. Right now you feel trapped. Please get out before you ARE trapped.
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please keep your child safe
[Read the article: Is my 13-year-old son gay?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree with Cary completely, but PLEASE educate your son about the dangers of chatrooms, myspace, etc. Kids who feel different or isolated are much more likely to go looking for "friends" like them on the internet, and it can end very badly.
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only half the answer, Cary
[Read the article: My Christian daughter says I'm going to hell]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that it's probably good for dad to accompany his daughter to church once in a while, if only to prove it's possible to be tolerant and a non-Christian. And you want to know what kind of church you're dealing with here - we all know "Christianity" means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and it sounds like her church is a little closer to the extreme side.
But I can't believe Cary says nothing about the very scary things this girl is being brought up to believe. Sure, she has every right to believe that homosexuality is sinful and creationism is fact, but dad also has every right to explain his point of view and point to the evidence that supports it. The attitudes she is developing hurt people in very real ways, and that includes the people who hold them (missing out on great friends because they're gay; turning against education because it's science-based, for example... I've seen both happen from "born again" friends.)
Dad, you face a tough challenge because you don't want to alienate your daughter. But you have a right and a responsibility to explain your way of looking at the world - that's what parents are for.
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moving and/or shaking
[Read the article: Ask the pilot]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've thought about the earthquake thing before. Does that make me a moron?
Given how often planes take off and land from LAX, surely it must have happened at some point. And everyone was fine. Right?
Please?
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no biggie
[Read the article: If Britney Spears shouldn't be naked in front of her kids, what about me?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I saw both my parents naked or semi-naked quite a bit growing up. It really was no big deal. I hadn't even thought of it up til now.
But there will come an age when the kids will choose to look away and say "gross mom! put on some clothes!" - and you'll need to respect that.
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a foreigner observes...
[Read the article: My girlfriend's daughter is dressing like a stripper for Halloween!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Cary, I love you, but even for you this made no sense. And I mean in an "I think the old man's taken too many meds" kind of way, not an "I don't agree with what he's saying" kind of way. What the hell was that? About death and childbirth and bosses?
I'm here for my second Halloween in the USA, and I agree that as an outside observer at least, the whole thing seems to be about being a slut. I couldn't find a costume that wasn't "sexy this" or "sexy that" (sexy border patrol was my favorite... only in America.) But I don't agree that it's a good thing, and I'm normally the most liberal and do-your-own-thing of person... Shake off the shackles of your puritanical society, sure, but just like the kid who can't drink until he's 21, people who are denied opportunity to break loose go seriously over-the-top once they get one. And it's ugly.
As a foreign woman Halloween scares me, and I know it scares my (mid-twenties) male friends here, who go out and take a shine to the slutty girls and then get yelled at because the girls are only 15, you disgusting men, how dare you. Because it was obvious from the suspenders and the fishnets and the blow dries and naughty nurse get up... ninth graders! Of course!
And the girls... you poor, poor girls.
I was excited to have a Halloween like I'd seen on television. Now it just scares the life out of me... in an 'I want to go home' way, not a 'look at the scary monster!' kind of way.
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I am the letter writer
[Read the article: After years of being meek, I'm suddenly screaming at people!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]although I haven't become angry yet... just very sad.
It's a difficult thing to realize that the assholes get everything (because they demand it, and they make life hell for everyone else until they get it) and the nice people just get dumped on, again and again.
And yet, I can't stop being nice. I find it pretty much impossible to not do the right thing, or the self-sacrificial thing, even when I'm being buried alive.
And it's made worse because I grew up hearing "if you're a good person, people will recognize what you do and appreciate who you are..."
No, they won't. Not until you're gone, anyway!