Letters to the Editor
Herself
Published Letters: 182 Editor's Choice: 17
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It sucks to get old
[Read the article: I can't stand losing my beauty as I age!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The worst part is not being able to see anymore. The best part is not being able to see anymore. As your near vision deteriorates, just don't wear glasses when you look in the mirror. Get someone else to do your eyebrows. Be aware that your new love will also have deteriorating eyesight, so when you are close in passion, you will be a lovely blur to him.
But, you know what? Its not a sin to go to a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon and get things exfoliated, botoxed or tucked. I can't believe some of the outrage people have at this sort of thing, especially since they scurry off and get it done.
Another thing that can help is to make sure you exercise, don't over eat, keep your weight down, and do active things that make you happy. A healthy woman who is smiling is much more attractive than a 20 year old depressed couch potato.
And then, I can just quote my dad, who is in his 70s. I complained about getting older and he said, "Beats the alternative!"
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One way to bring jobs back to the U.S.
[Read the article: The bright side of consumer paralysis]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The repair economy. It has atrophied considerably under the onslaught of cheap merchandise. For example, a woman will buy a poorly made 20 dollar pair of shoes and call it a "value". The shoes last three months. She throws them out and buys another 20 dollar pair of shoes. After 1 year, these shoes have cost her 80$. Calculate that over three years. If she had purchased one pair of well made shoes and had the heels replaced by a local shoe repair shop, she'd have spent less and given a local a job to do. Now, add on appliances, electronics, garments, furniture, and so on, and we'd have a lot of people working.
Retail does not have to suffer if the contents of our bulging closets, sheds and garages cycled through consignment and thrift shops. Locals would be hired to man the thrift shops instead of the big box stores.
Thie would keep things out of landfills and the reduced need for packaging and long haul shipping would lessen the load on the environment.
The low cost of consumer goods has created a housing problem of sorts in that people move to ever larger houses to warehouse their cheap consumer goods. They'll spend tens of thousands of dollars to warehouse a thousand dollars worth of 10 dollar shoes and tee shirts. Perhaps a good bit of this current crisis is brought on by our incessant mall ratting.
So, we can have a vital and sustainable economy if we valued the goods we had instead of treating everything as disposable.
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Its simple
[Read the article: The richest immigrants in Silicon Valley]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The Indian workers were cherrypicked to come to our area. They went to University, are generally upper middle class, and were recruited by top flight employers. The Mexicans can take a bus or walk to get into the U.S. Many Indochinese fled their home country because of regime change. I don't know the deal with the Chinese, except that the only immigrant Chinese I know are either H1B people like the Indians or they are very elderly and came over (again) due to regime change or poverty. Another very important thing to add is that the British influence over all those years means that many educated Indians speak understandable English.
So, it is pretty much a no-brainer why the Indians are doing so well here.
I appreciate the diversity,because the side-effect of their presence is that there are really great restaurants and shops to support those populations. I can walk to shops that sell produce, spices, and gee-gaws for several different cultures. Saves a lot of money on airfare and I don't have to give up the familiarity of my own house and friends to have a (admittedly limited) exotic shopping experience.
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Soapy laundry
[Read the article: Shopping for a clean washing machine]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Someone mentioned their laundry from the front loader is soapy. The solution is simple, use less soap. Unless you are emptying a deep fat fryer into your laundry hamper, odds are that you are using too much soap. I use half as much soap with my front loader as I did with a top loader and my wash is just as clean.
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There's a Place For Everyone
[Read the article: My mother's dying words were, "You'll never be good enough"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have worked in about 20 different places and they all have different corporate personalities. Ignoring LW's mother being a weapon's grade harpy, I will address the issues of cultural fit.
First of all, if you feel that everyone else is moving too slowly, you may consider changing to a company that moves fast and has an aggressive workforce. Of course, one hazard of that is that you will not get direction from a manager, you will be told "Hit the ground running." I have worked in places like that and you often won't get direction, but that never stopped anyone. If you want direction, then you must be willing to take it.
Since Cary edited the letter, I don't see the full thrust of it, but I detect a whiff of narcissism and entitlement. I meet people from the upper classes in other countries and they can either be very professional or they can step on everyone's toes. Be mindful that when you take on other people's work, you make them look bad, you take away something they may enjoy doing and/or feel ownership of. No one likes to be shown up and it sounds like you are doing it. Chill out and step back. Stop stepping all over people. You'll have plenty of time to do that when you are a CEO.
And if the ghost of your mother continues to annoy you, go to medical school and become a doctor. That is unarguably the highest status job someone can have, short of becoming the Queen of England, as far as mothers are concerned.