Letters to the Editor
BettyBoop
Published Letters: 96 Editor's Choice: 9
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I used to clean like a madwoman
[Read the article: Our house is so messy my husband's threatening to leave]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]and live in a really, really neat apartment. Then we had kids and I could absolutely not face the mess. The place was crazy messy. My husband would come home from work and clean because he couldn't stand it. I would feel bad for him, since he'd been at work all day and I'd been home. But taking care of kids . . . it drains you, it sabotages your sense of purpose, things get messy.
Then one day we bought a place and I just knew that we couldn't let it lapse into disrepair. So, despite our tenuous financial situation, I hired a lady to come in once a week, which we can barely afford. It's a necessity. Even on those mornings when I can't somehow bring myself to pick up before she arrives, I let her in and she cleans. It's easier for her--it's not her stuff; she has no emotional attachment to my mess the way I do. She can just dive in and go for it.
Hire someone. Just do it. It might feel lazy, wrong, expensive, but it will be the best money you've ever spent.
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btw, it might well be depression or a marriage on the rocks
[Read the article: Our house is so messy my husband's threatening to leave]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]that (understandably) makes you feel hostile toward creating a pleasant home. It could be a cry for help, even. But don't feel you have to fix your other problems before you get your house under control. Just get the house under control. The other problems will still be there. And don't let hubby off the hook, either. Maybe you need to tell him that, it's true, I can't bring myself to clean. Maybe it's because I resent the fact that you won't take any responsibility for the situation. But be that as it may, I've hired this cleaning lady/service. This doesn't make it my personal responsibility. But we have a problem and this is how I am solving it.
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The US economy is literally propped up by credit
[Read the article: My big, fat, unpaid credit card bill]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If people start being "responsible" about credit cards, our economy will surely collapse. It might well anyway. Why? Because of the housing loan crisis. Hand out free money, give people a dose of "you better buy a house now or forever be priced out" and bubbles will grow. Why do you think things are so expensive relative to salaries? Hmmmm, could it be easy credit? Those of you who are getting all dewy-eyed about the good old days when people paid cash are apparently unaware of the epic inflation that has taken place since credit cards were in everyone's wallet. It really does sometimes take a credit card to pay the grocery bill at the end of the month, even if you don't have cable, new clothes, a new car or anything at all. Do you know why? Because everyone has credit cards. It is axiomatic. Have you looked at the price of a gallon of milk these days? It's around six dollars--nearly an hour's work at minimum wage. What was the ratio back in the good old responsible days?
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Jared2 that is an excellent strategy
[Read the article: My big, fat, unpaid credit card bill]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Credit Card companies call guys like you "deadbeats" (according to the documentary "Maxed Out," which every American should rent.
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I get grossed out when I hear,
[Read the article: I get grossed out when I hear, "I'm a mom!"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"marital aids."
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This is why I can't bring myself to support Obama
[Read the article: Blood-and-guts politics]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It's the company I would be keeping. Oprah Winfrey. That death's head Maria Shriver. And now this freak. I do like Obama an awful lot. But I just hate to be in the same philosophical plane as these superficial thinkers.
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Mark G
[Read the article: Blood-and-guts politics]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Camille is also right wing. Your wanting to have dinner with her is no big indicator of your broad-mindedness, nor hers.
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You run a hedge fund?
[Read the article: Help! I'm a prisoner in a big suburban house!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]And you didn't see this housing crisis looming a thousand miles a way?
That's all that I can think of when I read this.
Don't be so smug. It's not a problem a lot of people would want. It's actually a really big problem. I'm not trying to be a jerk, but it's probably time to face reality. Your wife is right: you're impulsive. If you can afford the house, you should stay. You're in panic mode, for good reasons. But you're pretty much stuck, so make the best of it.
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Rebecca is the real deal--
[Read the article: Of Valentine's jinxes and packaged gnocchi ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]a great writer! This is such a well-written piece, as nearly all of Rebecca's columns are.
I enjoyed this because, probably not coincidentally today, I was thinking about my teenaged relationship with my mother. Up until I became a teenager, when she became jealous and competitive, she was a pretty good mother. Still, if I'd been in the kitchen creating masterpieces, she would have been so blissed out she might have been able to overlook my grown-woman's body, and the fact that it attracted boys. It's funny what makes our mothers crazy--I take this as a cautionary tale for when my own daughter grows up and wants to be who she wants to be. I hope I can support and celebrate it and not worry so much about the mess.
Happy Valentine's Day!
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Obama did refuse to pose
[Read the article: A gay-marriage anniversary]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]A friend of mine was given a private interview with Newsome, during which he mentioned the thing about Barack. So, maybe it's just politics. But also you frothing-at-the mouth Obama supporters need to brace yourselves for the big come-down. Obama is a good politician, but he's not Jesus. Get ready for reality, huh?
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The reason this is making some of you so angry
[Read the article: The dude vote]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is that it enrages you to have sexism acknowledged. To the rest of us: if we want women to continue making strides, we have to quit cowering in the face of this rage and soldier on with thick skins.
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BTW if Barack Obama had been forced to vote on Iraq
[Read the article: The dude vote]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]He would have voted in favor . . . don't delude yourselves. On every controversial vote he had to cast in the Illinois Senate, he voted "present" instead of having the balls to vote for or against. He also made a lot of "accidental" votes in favor of the big bad corporations. He made a pretty speech against the war at the time, but it was inconsequential and he knew it. You don't know how he would have voted. Quit deluding yourselves into thinking you don't want Hillary because of her Iraq vote. How many of you Obama supporters insist that you'll vote for McCain if Hillary gets the nomination? Hmmmmm?