Letters to the Editor
Allie_
Published Letters: 1242 Editor's Choice: 109
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"one person looking out of her door three times"
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]It seems to me that the woman who poked her head out of the door three times was obviously conflicted. For whatever reason, she wasn't disinterested, but she couldn't make up her mind about what she was seeing and what to do. If she were simply heartless or simply afraid, she would have closed the door and never come back out again.
Whether her conflict was due to unfamiliarity with how the police work in America, or having seen so many women raped in a war zone that it no longer seemed unusual, I can't say.
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re: DurianJoe
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here](By the way, why Durian? You wouldn't happen to be from Malaysia?)
No argument here. The only thing I'd add is that the best way to survive a street fight is not to get into one in the first place. A little awareness of the people around you and how they're acting goes a long way.
My friend was primarily into weapons kata, which is about as theoretical a martial art as you can be into. However (sad to say) he was also a self-defense instructor.
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brand name?
[Read the article: The family jeans]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd like to know who the sickos are.
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re: Afro Goddess
[Read the article: My girlfriend tried cocaine at a party! She was drunk! Oh my God!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I think you're missing the point a lot of posters are trying to make.
YOU would not be acceptable to the LW because you have used drugs back in the day.
I don't use drugs (I rarely even drink). I don't think drugs are cool; I tend to agree with the LW that drug use is stupid. However, I'm not going to limit my friends to only those who have never used drugs. It's clear the girlfriend isn't a giant stoner; she tried cocaine once, at a party. She isn't even a recreational drug user, much less a demon from the Reefer Madness era out to ruin homes and families. She's someone who tried cocaine once, at a party.
The letter writer seems to me to be a long way away from normal. He's not normal even for someone who's opposed to using drugs. Why must she feel remorse? Why is he losing sleep?
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re: sexy tots
[Read the article: The family jeans]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Several moms have expressed concern about sexy clothing for small children, by which I believe they mean clothing which looks like sexy clothing for adult women.
I hate to have to say this, but I think it's important for mothers to know: the sort of man who will molest a toddler isn't usually turned on by "sexy" adult clothing. He's probably fetishing cute, sweet little dresses that don't appear sexy to you at all. For a pedophile, the POINT is that the child is a child; a pedophile doesn't want the child to look adult.
Which I guess makes the current trend towards sexy baby clothing less directly harmful (but still disturbing.)
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about people who don't keep promises
[Read the article: My husband won't do his laundry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Checking back on the latest responses; it's clear that there are a lot of married people, men and women, who just don't keep promises. I'm talking about the sort of situation everyone's encountered: promised to do X by Friday, and it's Monday after that Friday, and it's not done yet. Men seem to do this more often than women, and not just because they don't care as much about household tasks; men generally care more than women about, say, car maintenance, but that doesn't mean they take the car to have the oil changed in a timely fashion.
My husband and I are both award-winning procrastinators by nature. What works in our household is a simple rule about procrastination: once a task is late, one free postponement, period. If my husband wants to put off fixing the light switch - or I want to put off doing the laundry - we can. One time. Period. And during that one time, no one gets to bitch or nag or hint or roll eyes dubiously or otherwise try to spoil the other person's free time. The postponement must have a clearly defined limit: "I'm watching Heroes, I'll do it after the show," for example. After that, the job must be done, instantly, drop whatever you are doing and go do it. Period. It doesn't get postponed again. If you have to go without sleep or food until the laundry is done or the light switch is fixed, well, that's the bed you made for yourself when you put off doing it in the first place.
This rule has resulted in a much cleaner, saner, more functional life for both of us. Funny how if you know you're going to have to do it at the most inconvenient time possible you don't put it off until then.
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medical advocacy
[Read the article: I don't want to be a doctor!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I wonder if the letter writer can turn this thing into a plus for everyone. There are scads of people out there who have to deal with the medical profession who don't have the technical knowledge to do it. Aren't there lawyers who specialize in this sort of thing?
I'm not sure I like Cary's advice. I'm not sure, for starters, whether the LW wants to be a lawyer any more than he (or she) wants to be a doctor. Helping people seems to be dad's dream, not his.
I can't say what exactly LW should do, but I can clearly state what he shouldn't do: don't chicken out of a confrontation consciously, while subconsciously forcing one by flunking out of school.
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oh for Pete's sake
[Read the article: Police: Woman raped, witnesses do nothing]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Brightstar, it was a woman who opened the door three times and didn't call. Has nothing to do with men not wanting to help women.
And did you just say that your resentment against women runs so deep that you wouldn't even pick up the phone to call the police if you saw a woman being raped, because it would make you feel used? Or was that just a theoretical?