Letters to the Editor
melthough
Published Letters: 1264 Editor's Choice: 102
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HUH?
[Read the article: Plastic bags are killing us]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I would need to carry about 20 pounds worth of canvas bags to hold the amount of stuff I typically buy at the grocery store."
OK, even if this were true - and I have my doubts, given the fact that we have a family of five and shop once a week and our canvas bags weigh approximately three pounds in the aggregate, and we never use them all on one trip - why can't your car carry the "20 pounds" worth of bags? I am really not understanding your point. It's great to find so many creative uses for your bags, but the best use of them is to keep getting new groceries put into them, so you don't keep bringing home more and more bags until you need to.
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About the decking
[Read the article: Plastic bags are killing us]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I guess I can see the point of the decking argument - that you need to be able to turn plastic bags into more plastic bags that can be turned into more plastic bags in order to make the most difference. But isn't turning them into decking a zillion times better (give or take a bazillion) than turning them into litter? And decking is a great use, too, because it is a durable good. If plastic bags can't practically be recycled, then you simply can't make them into more plastic bags to be RE-recycled.
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My SIL did EC
[Read the article: Diaper-free nation]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I concur with mslaura, even though I did not make the commitment to EC with any of my own kids. Everyone I know who has do EC has their kid in diapers when they went out for the day. It's just that the diapers don't usually get 'used'. And it isn't very kind to train children to use diapers and then expect them to magically re-train themselves for one of their most intimate acts on their second birthday (one of the hardest times of one's life, no less). We let our kids run around naked at home quite a lot - a much lazier version of EC than many people practice, but it certainly raises the child's awareness of when they are peeing and pooping. EC simply takes advantage of that awareness in an organized way.
Also, my children all had bowel control by four months. They never, EVER pooped outside our home or during the night after that age (unless they had diarrhea). Some children may be different, but this is pretty common, and I don't think people should shy away from giving their children an alternative to pooping in a diaper. As long as they are not abusing their kids, I don't think it's any of my business.
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"I believe celibacy is the only rational approach."
[Read the article: Casual hookups cause "gray rape"?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]You're streeeeeeeeetching the meaning of the word 'rational' there, buddy.
The actual rational approach is to advocate and practice a system whereby men and women treat each other as human beings instead of stereotypes and have honest relationships based on equality and trust.
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I have slowed WAAAAAY down
[Read the article: Older women leave young'uns in the dust]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I had knee issues in my early 20s but "ran through" them. I'm here to tell you that three pregnancies and mothering three children haven't 'toughened up' my knees, my hips, my shoulders, or any other joint. I still run, but I don't run as far, as often, OR as fast, because I'm afraid I'll have to have a hip replacement before I'm 45 (ten years from now). Being slower and creakier than I used to be, and finding time to run now that I have three children can both be pretty demoralizing and discouraging. Isn't it possible that only the very best female runners are the ones still running after they turn 40? I hope not. I'd love to think I'll be fast again after menopause!
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19 pairs of shoes
[Read the article: The shoe love that has no name]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That actually does have a name: "mindless greed."
(Full disclosure: I have three pairs - New Balance for running, Keens for three seasons, All-Weather Mocs for the fourth. I should probably have a pair of winter boots, which will bring me to four pairs. I am uncomfortable with even that number, but I'm guessing most American men have about that many too.)
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Whenever I start to think I'm a disgusting consumerist pig,
[Read the article: The shoe love that has no name]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I get a little lesson in how other Americans actually live. Yeah, shoes are necessary. So is transportation. I don't have 19 cars, though. Jobs are necessary, but I wouldn't choose the kind that required me to wear heels during any part of the hiring or working process. Not the industry I chose (in fact, I freelance, and I wear my Sensible Shoes for client meetings). If I work in an office again, I will buy a pair of comfy brown Aerosoles that I can match with my whole office wardrobe. Which I will have to acquire at that point, because I haven't worked a Job job for years - by choice - so I mostly wear ratty jeans and old t-shirts to my home office. My friends and family members can't afford fancy weddings or funerals or cocktail parties. That's the way we live. No one is forcing you to have a lifestyle that requires 19 pairs of shoes. I don't mind a whole lot if you do, but please don't assume the rest of the world should envy you - or even consider that normal behavior. Also, it wouldn't hurt to consider where your shoes come from, how it comes about that you are able to have so many when some people have none, and the kinds of resources you are using (up) by living the way you do. There are a lot of people in this world, and you are only one of them. I'm not saying that people with lots of shoes are by definition not thinking about these issues (maybe shoes are just your one indulgence - whatever), but needing dark and light of nine different types of shoe isn't exactly necessary for human survival. Even if you work in sales and sometimes like to go dancing.
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Yo, "Detail" person
[Read the article: Sex and the presidency]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The piece IS about sex. "Is America ready for a woman president?" Not, "Is American ready for a feminine president?" Get it? "Woman" describes a person's sex, not a person's gender.