Letters to the Editor
nancyh
Published Letters: 155 Editor's Choice: 5
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Weight gain begins at home
[Read the article: Junk food education]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I agree that school lunches are an abomination. But, they have been that way since I was a kid, in the 1970s (before the beginning of the obesity epidemic)-carbs o plenty, and vegetables cooked to within an inch of their nutritional lives. Is it any wonder that kids grow up hating broccoli?
But (and this is a really big, big, but), home environments seem to be more important for weight gain. A recent well-done study showed that kids gain most of their weight over summer vacation-not during the school year. So, maybe we should be educating the parents not trying to change the schools.
That being said-count me in with pitching the coke machines, ditto with supersized fast food and double ditto (my pet peave) the triple portion candybars sold at movies and sporting events.
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Availability
[Read the article: Over-the-counter Plan B: One year later]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]How many pharmacies are currently carrying Plan B? Tonight I plan to see whether my local Dillons Pharmacy (Midwest) is or is planning to stock this item.
I would like to issue a call to action for all Salon readers who care about choice. Lets use the power of the free market to ensure Plan B is a profitable product for local pharmacies.
Step 1. Ask about plan B at your local pharmacy.
Step 2. If you have the money, buy it whether you need it or not.
Step 3. Tell all of your friends to do the same.
Step 4. If you find that your local pharmacy is not stocking plan B-write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Call or write a letter of protest to the owner of the pharmacy. Take your business elsewhere.
I completely understand the point made by the previous writer. It is too expensive. But, better that it be available, even at a ridiculous price, than not at all. It is time for women to exercise our cumulative financial and political power. In other words, lets put our money where our mouth is.
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re On pharmacists not carrying
[Read the article: Over-the-counter Plan B: One year later]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So, what is up with the "only carry two" ordering strategy. Something smells a bit fishy (or fundamentalist) here. Capatist logic would suggest that if you are perpetually out of a high demand product, you should order more of it. Where is the bottleneck? Is it your coporate office? Or, is it the manufacturer?
I am never going to "need" Plan B. (I am over 40, married, and use an IUD. If for some strange reason I got pregnant, it would be a shock but far from the end of the world). But, I have two daughters and it makes me crazy to think that there are barriers to obtaining a legal and safe method of contraception. I am ready, willing, and able to write letters.
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re ordering
[Read the article: Over-the-counter Plan B: One year later]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I went to my local pharmacy last night and asked about Plan B. Here is plug for Dillons in the midwest, the do carry Plan B (were temporarily out of stock-not so good). I talked to the pharmacist about how their orders were filled. She said that they were not restricted in their ordering. She also said, that there are a number of different companies that distribute Plan B, and that it very well might be the case that one or more distrbuter has the kind of limits you describe.
Of course it is not your "job" to figure out where the bottleneck is, but knowing where it is could a) save you some grief because it may not be the fault of your pharmacy chain. It sounds like the problem could be the distributer/supplier, in which case changing pharmacies might NOT fix the problem if your new employer has the same distributer. b) If we all say, "it's not my job" then the problem will not be fixed.
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false controversy
[Read the article: Diaper-free nation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I have read versions of this article in the local papers and other websites. Does it strike anyone else that the tone of these articles is designed to get women to attack each other in the female equivalent of a pissing contest (pun intended).
I have a 4 1/2 year old, potty trained her at around 2 1/2, and I say God bless all parents for dealing with all the shit. It is a tribute to the power of parental bonding that we deal with the pee and the poo at all.
I would, however, like to call out the person who stated that it was common (or words to that effect) for kids not to be potty trained until 4 or 5 and that people (in droves) delay Kindergarten because little Suzy still wears a diaper. Bullshit.
I am fully imersed in kid-culture and I know of ABSOULUTELY NO KID over the age of 4 who is not potty trained. If for no other reason, daycares (where most kids go during the day) would object.
Now that isn't to say that kids don't have accidents, they do, and that diaper companies appear to have developed a lifespan marketing strategy, but I just don't know who these kids are.
Lets focus our collective energy on supporting each other, rather then letting our energy be diverted to drivel like this.
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fathers
[Read the article: Do we teach children to fear men?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]#1 I don't know where some of the posters live, but in my neighborhood I know of several involved dads who do most of the caregiving for both daughters and sons. To my knowledge, no one has ever looked at them cross-eyed and it has never occurred to me to worry.
#2 This hysteria seems to be a plot to drive women out of the working world and back home as primry caretakers for their children.