Yes, but did he understand what he was reading?

Thanks Abby, for "breaking the ice" with your timely (for some of us) piece. I have had bladder "problems" since my first pregnancy in 1956. Worse at some times than at others, I've learned to live with it, I thought, but Time is beginning to win the struggle. I've always had a modicum of control, knew where public lavatories were located, voiding before leaving the house, watching liquid intake, etc. This summer however, it all came home so to speak, on a deserted street in Key West when control evaporated, so to speak. Turns out I had a bladder infection that lasted for about 3 weeks during which I had to work, standing in public view for anywhere from 3 to 7 hour shifts, 4 or 5 days a week.

Embarrassing as it was, I had no choice but to buy adult "diapers" as having them made life possible. There's more to the story, too much to detail in a response, but I realized how much I take control of elimination for granted. I do not want to be incontinent in the latter years of my life. I don't want to lose control over those processes which almost define civilization for all of us. My rather brief experiences with that loss has made me determined to stay healthy.

Still, I was glad to read your essay since no one hardly ever speaks publicly about this topic, and it's something we should do. When we learn how others handle these situations, we can prepare ourselves for the time when we might have a similar experience. So, thanks again, Abby.

I, too, am dismayed by the apparently total media coverage of Paris's most recent antics. Is she really worth a column in the New York Times? Does her pain and suffering merit a segment on the Evening News? But then, this is the Media according to George W. Bush, the media that glosses over the horrendous events in Irag and the Mideast, the media that fails to fully inform the American public of other happenings that do concern many of us.

It's unlikely Paris will ever do anything worthwhile with her life. The single skill she seems to have developed is that of making people look at her. Not necessarily with admiration or envy, wonder perhaps. We wonder why she thinks she's worthy of anyone's attention or concern. We wonder how the media, the once-honorable profession of journalism is now so much like tabloid journalism, it's hard to tell them apart.

Perhaps though I have misjudged Ms. Hilton. She has reduced many of us to the same moral level she occupies. Yet, as thinking humans we watch to see how this will turn out, when she will no longer hold any interest for any of us. Soon, I hope, very soon.