Letters to the Editor
kansasgirl
Published Letters: 119 Editor's Choice: 15
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I agree with Cary
[Read the article: My 13-year-old singer wants to quit piano lessons]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW, I know lots of people are accusing you of being a pushy parent. Maybe you are, I don't know. You can evaluate that part of the issue.
But I agree with Cary. Don't let her quit.
I started piano lessons in 2nd grade. I went through a period when I was 11 or 12 when I begged my mom to let me quit. I cried. I didn't practice. I complained constantly. And every time, my mom told me that her mom let her quit and she never forgave her for it. (She was exaggerating to make a point. I don't think she's really held a grudge against my grandmother over piano lessons her entire life.)
And at some point, I think a year or two into my begging to quit, I realized I liked the piano. Maybe it's because I started getting good at it. Maybe it's because I had a great teacher who let me play ragtime and jazz in additional to classical. Whatever it was, by the time I was in high school my parents had to set limits on how late I could play the piano, because left to my own devices, I'd stay up late into the night.
I'm not a professional musician but I do still play the piano. In fact, my parents gave me the piano I learned on (the same one my mother didn't learn to play on) and it's my prized possession.
My younger brother took piano lessons too. He went through the period of begging to quit and my mom let him. She says she couldn't take it from both of us. And yes, my brother regrets it.
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Moms and con artists
[Read the article: My new roommate arrived ... with mom attached!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think the mom / con artist paragraph is some of Cary's finest work yet!
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Thompson piece in Washington Post
[Read the article: More bad news for Rudy Giuliani]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I just clicked on the link to the article on Fred Thompson and his wife, and then found the Post article and read it. I don't see why the article is a "disturbing" profile. Basically it sounds like some people think Thompson's wife is too involved, and Thompson says any actions she's taken have been with his approval. I was expecting something scandalous, but instead I read a profile that sounds like most political marriages. Joan, can you qualify why this is a disturbing profile?
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Dear LW
[Read the article: There's a cougher in the office and it's driving me mad!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You say: "If it's allergies, there must be a medicine that will make it better."
If only that were so. I am 38 and have had bad allergies since childhood. Allergies are not necessarily seasonal. One of my worst allergies is dust mites and mold, which I can control in my own home but not in other environments. The smell of fresh cut grass may be pleasant to some, but it gives me sneezing fits. I am so allergic to cats that I can tell someone has held a cat merely by hugging them. The cat dander that inevitably transfers to my clothes will leave me sniffly.
Clearly you have no idea what it's like to deal with chronic allergies. You would think that in this day and age it would be an easy thing to cure, but for some of us, allergies are an ongoing, daily battle.
I have tried Allegra, Zyrtec, Claritin and Benadryl. I've tried Sudafed and Mucinex, Flonase, Nasonex and Nasalcrom. I've done allergy shots. I do sinus irrigation (don't ask). I am still the person who probably annoys everyone with my incessant throat clearing. I wish something made it better.
I'm sorry you have to listen to someone cough. I really am. I used to sit next to an ice-cruncher (who knew someone could go through that much ice in one day) and it drove me insane. But please understand that there is not a cure for allergies, just treatments that have varying degrees of effectiveness on allergy sufferers.
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Definition of hard work
[Read the article: I feed the poor but eat with the rich]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Michael Huggins writes: "No one who really knows what hard work is--e.g., laboring on a dock, a construction site, or a farm--would call what they are doing hard work. "
I disagree. The LW says these meals are for 200 people. I don't know how many volunteers are preparing the meals, but I've helped put together large meals before, and it IS hard work. And I grew up on a farm. I know hard work.
LW, I admire your efforts. You're far ahead of me. I don't volunteer, I just go out for the occasional fancy brunch with friends. Whether you're eating with the homeless or the people in the fancy restaurant, you're doing more than most of us.
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wow
[Read the article: How bots rigged D.C.'s "hot" reporter contest]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Please tell me people don't really care whether or not a hot journalist contest was rigged or not. And please tell me no one actually expected that results of said contest would be statistically valid.
Next you'll be telling me I shouldn't base my life on the results of those Cosmo quizzes or my horoscope.
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stereotype much?
[Read the article: How can I love my Republican parents?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I suspect that there's a lot more to your parents than their political party. My parents are Republicans (though not big fans of Bush). I believe they're entitled to their beliefs and opinions, just as I am. My parents are also really good people - and believe it or not, those are not mutually exclusive categories. I suspect that you think Republican = bad person. You're stereotyping with a pretty broad brush there.
I have an aunt who LOVES George Bush. She has a photo of him on her fridge. She even thinks he's handsome. Not only is she a Republican, she's an evangelical Christian. But my aunt is one of the most generous, loving and truly kind people you will ever meet. I don't agree with her political or religious beliefs and she knows it, so we avoid discussing them. She doesn't judge me because I'm a secular Democrat.
Don't sell people short because they're a different political stripe, whether they're your parents or strangers. I think you'll find, if you look, that even Republicans have something to offer.
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Re: I am a Republican
[Read the article: How can I love my Republican parents?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Please give AJCalhoun a red star.