Letters to the Editor
Published Letters: 149 Editor's Choice: 9
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The bottom line is...
[Read the article: An elderly salesman terrorized me in front of my kids!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...don't let strangers into your home. Especially not in front of your children. Don't open the door. Don't let them say more than a sentence before replying that you're not interested.
People who choose to go door-to-door for a living have, or develop, very aggressive personalities. Some are just charming to a fault, and harmless. Some are not. Don't get to know them long enough to find out.
Your kids need to know that what you did was wrong, and that they should never do it. It's harder to sell them on that now that they've seen you do it, but it's still important. They need to grow up believing that they can set their own boundaries. You let a stranger violate yours repeatedly in their presence.
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You were nice enough to give him a second chance...
[Read the article: My husband is groping my sister]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...and now he's admitted to having blown it repeatedly. With your sister, no less. Quit being the personal doormat to both of them and move on. You said yourself that he hasn't even tried that hard to atone. You know why that is? Because he's saving the real atonement for when he really, really, REALLY betrays you in ways you can't even imagine right now.
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Fox News doesn't treat ALL conservatives like knuckle-dragging morons...
[Read the article: Quote of the Day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...only the ones who watch the channel.
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Just be ready to answer the creepy questions.
[Read the article: If Britney Spears shouldn't be naked in front of her kids, what about me?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Such as:
What if you found out your son enjoyed seeing you naked?
What if he's disappointed when you stop being naked around him?
What if he tries to fill the void by spying on you?
You might think these questions are far-fetched or irrelevant. I don't. Humans are sexual beings, and nudity is a big part of sex, especially in our culture. We do not have innate knowledge of social/sexual mores; they need to be taught to us. Young boys, in particular, pursue their own mothers romantically until they learn not to. How do you teach an inappropriate suitor not to pursue you? By letting him see you naked?
Like I said, these are creepy questions. Most people don't like to deal with them, which is why families tend to draw pretty clear boundaries in this area. The less clearly you draw them, the greater the chance for problems. That's how I see it, anyway.
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The progression
[Read the article: My girlfriend's daughter is dressing like a stripper for Halloween!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]My observation: Every year, the sluttiest Halloween costumes become the routine-wear sexy outfits for the following year; and as a result, the next round of costumes are forced to amp up the sluttiness quotient. And so on, and so forth.
But what's a 16 year old girl to do? At this point, if you walk into a party wearing anything more than nipple tassels and a thong, you might as well also be holding your Chemistry textbook in one hand and mommy's dress strings in the other.
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RE: owning your own sexuality
[Read the article: My girlfriend's daughter is dressing like a stripper for Halloween!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The problem is that these days, everything from girls making out with each other for free drinks to hardcore porn is justified by the maxim (big M or small m) of "females owning their own sexuality." A girl who refuses to act, dress, or think slutty is no longer accused of being a prude; instead, she's accused of being antifeminist. The result, as far as I can tell, is that womanhood's eons-long battle with its own image has only gotten more bloody, while men get much more of what they want without even having to ask.
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Come on, dude...
[Read the article: Cleric: Your sexy outfit is killing me!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...quit your whining and just put a box of tissues on your nightstand and go to bed 15 minutes earlier. You'll feel SO much better.
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Yee-ha!
[Read the article: Beware the Google]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Code Pink? Sounds like a bunch of cut-and-run fags. MoveOn.org? That's on the goddamn internet, and everyone knows that's run by commie fags and Hollyweird liberals.
Woooooooooey! Mr. Prez, I sure is sorry that only 22 percent of this goddamn country approves of you. Don't know what those other 88 percent are thinkin'.
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The idea that idiot conservative rednecks are probably bad at math...
[Read the article: Beware the Google]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]...was indeed part of the joke.
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It's pretty much a chemical thing...
[Read the article: Do I have a drinking problem?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you can drink an entire bottle of wine and just be "tipsy-drunk," then you're an alcoholic. Alcoholics are, pure and simple, people whose bodies process alcohol in an abnormal way. They are not bad people and neither are you. They just need to avoid alcohol. Luckily for you, alcoholism is one of the most prevalent diseases on the planet and easily the one with the strongest support network. You can find an AA meeting anywhere you can find a telephone book. So get out there and talk to some like-minded people, discover that the world you're in doesn't need to be a lonely one, and get better.
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Translation...
[Read the article: We'll take that as a "no"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"We don't have a veto-proof congress so don't expect us to get anything done, and we're not going to do something 'effective' like refuse to send up a bill because that would be political suicide and even 10,000 more troop deaths doesn't outweigh the chances of putting a small-d democrat in the Oval Office to continue the war for another 4 years."
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Just stay away from him and his wife.
[Read the article: My boss wants me to apologize to his wife]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Don't keep up any contact with him, not even platonic chit-chat. Thinking you can go back to that after what you've been through is like an alcoholic thinking she can go out for a couple beers without incident. It's unrealistic. You still have a relationship. Ending it means ENDING it. Sever all ties.
And don't even think about talking to his wife. I can guaran-goddamn-tee you that THIS is exactly what led up to his request:
Boss: "Would it make it better if I had LW apologize to you?"
Wife: "NO! I don't want to see or hear from that woman."
Boss: "C'mon, I bet you'll feel better if you hear it from her."
Wife: "I really, really won't."
Boss: "I think you're wrong. Let me talk to her. You'll see."
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Use his obvious ignorance to solve the problem.
[Read the article: My boss forwards fluffy kitten e-mails!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]People who pass along those types of emails are the most gullible computer users on the planet.
If you casually mention something like "I hear that 99% of all chain e-mails are now infected with this virus that wipes out your hard drive within two weeks of opening them"...
...he will, in all likelihood, stop it the next day.
(Better yet: preface that remark with "I have a cousin who's a programmer for Microsoft...")