Letters to the Editor
HesterEastman
Published Letters: 248 Editor's Choice: 21
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Marriage & tradition
[Read the article: Asking Dad for her hand in marriage ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]So, Hester if this custom is just an old-fashioned formality without any meaning whatsoever, what's the point? And why do you think it is "sweet" if it has no meaning?
First of all, I don't think it's sweet, but some people seem to. It's way too traditional for me, but it doesn't really offend me that other people are more traditional than I am, it happens all the time. There are so many traditions in marriage that have changed in meaning over time that I can't see this one is more offensive than any other. Women change their names when they marry, and no one bats an eye. What's more a result of a paternalistic society than that? Father's walk daughters down the aisle and no one assumes she's chattel. Women where white yet no one thinks she trying to proclaim her virginity. A lot of these traditions have remained while very much changing their meaning. I just don't see this one, which I'm not even sure is a huge trend, being any more significant than all the others.
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I've learned to avoid shelters
[Read the article: Ellen, the dog bullies and me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've adopted many a cat over time, and my experiences with shelters is similar to Havrilesky's. The rules, references, forced video-watching, and things I've been required to agree with that I don't (that the cat will never go outside, for one), are too much. Never mind the self righteous attitude, all of which makes me feel like a criminal for wanting to adopt a cat and having to sneak around to do it. For a while I just went a long with it and lied, but more recently we've adopted directly from someone with a litter. And yes, all my cats go outside, including the 15 year olds. Apparently, it won't kill them instantly after all.
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Roberto?
[Read the article: Candidates' wives "scootch in" closer ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I wonder how the election would go if Hillary suddenly dumped Bill for a 25-year-old pool boy named Roberto....
I think it would bring her a lot more votes, particularly among married women.
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Dont' be bullied into paying OR leaving your job
[Read the article: Our office manager is a dental despot!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The office manager is a bully. There is only one way to deal with bullies and maintain your self-respect - stand up to them. Didn't we all learn that in 3rd grade? Don't pay the money and don't look for another job. Not over this issue anyway. So what if you're ostracized by someone you don't like and is bullying you? Maybe that's a good thing. Someone needs to stand up to the woman and I bet you'll get support from your co-workers. Paying and running off to another job is cowardly.
Employees should never have to pony up for a boss, whether it's an ad or a birthday present or a going away gift. It's inappropriate for the workplace.
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One obvious point I don't think anyone else has mentioned
[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]LW - let me add to the chorus saying you are not damaging your children. Nudity is not something to be ashamed of and you are demonstrating that to them. However, given that your child of the opposite sex is 10, I would ask him directly if your nudity makes him uncomfortable. He's old enough to know why you would ask the question. He's also old enough that the answer is possibly yes. I would follow the kid's lead.
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Cheers to the LW
[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]LW - it sounds like you've handled the whole thing very well. You may find soon that he really doesn't want to see you naked and will be respectful of those boundaries you two talked about (teenage boys get that way). And in the mean time, you showed him that nudity isn't shameful. Just sometimes private.
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Cary, you have really missed the point on this one
[Read the article: My girlfriend's daughter is dressing like a stripper for Halloween!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I went to the local vintage clothing/costume store this weekend, which was given over mostly to costumes. All of the staff were dressed up - all the females in some form of bustier/assless chaps/fishnet stockings (the men, needless to say, were fully clothed). I don't think they were even trying to be anything, just half naked. Seriously, bare asses hanging out. In the name of Halloween. At another store I went to with my kids there was "Slutty Dorothy" and "Slutty Goldilocks". Even my 11 year old was appalled.
Cary, you missed the point. Halloween has become an occasion for girls to dress as trampy as possible and we celebrate this because??? We should just accept this in the pathetic name of women's empowerment??? No. Instead, we should be asking why young women need to look like a slut so badly. Is this really as far as women have come on the empowerment front? Pathetic.
The LW is right in being concerned for this 16 year old. But she's just following the latest trend and without parental involvement, who could be surprised?
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Cary, a little insight into children:
[Read the article: Should I take my husband's name?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]That way, when your kids say, Why do you have a different name from Daddy?
Cary, kids don't ask that. They don't have our preconceived notions of what women "are suppose to do". My children have never asked me why my name is different than their father's. Look around you, the world is full of people with different names than their family members. There are a lot of reasons why women change their names when they marry, but frankly, if they are doing it to become closer to their husband or because they think it will make them a stronger family unit, they have very naive notions of marriage.
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The media is making me root for Hillary!
[Read the article: What you missed while watching "Project Runway"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not actually a Hillary supporter (though not a hater either), but the way the media is treating her is making me root for her. Montages of her laughing and then criticizing her laugh? Getting hysterical over the fact that she semi-flubbed an answer on drivers licenses in New York (hardly the issue driving this election)after holding her own very well through almost an entire debate? It's not the other candidates picking on her that bothers me, it's the media distorting little things to try to bring her down a peg. If it gets bad enough, I might even want to vote for her!