Edith Ann, From your description, the “friends” you broke up with were not real friends at all so you don’t need refills for those. Real friends will love you warts and all. You have so many admirers who would love to be friends, I am sure. One good thing to remember is what my grandmother told me once; to have a friend you must also be a friend. A real friend is someone who you can trust with all of your secrets. Choose your friends wisely and you will never be friendless again. Friends carry each other around in their hearts.

Hear! Hear!

WE have to make this turn around. Most of us who were raised by working class parents who survived the Depression, were taught the value of money. I am pushing 60 and can pinch a penny until it squeaks if I have to and we may all have to. I have no feelings of entitlement to anything that I have not earned. We need to stop buying automobiles that are not energy efficient. Doing this will force auto manufacturers to make more energy efficient cars. It happened in the 70’s and it will have to happen again. We, as a nation, have become too lax with our own economy. The reality of our economic down-fall is staring us in the face and we can’t expect some politician or another war to fix the problems we are facing. This is a challenge and we, as Americans, need to knuckle-down and face the music. Why do we have to live our lives according to what Madison Ave. says? Because we have become prestige conscious. Some of us may have to do without luxuries for awhile and luxuries are relative to the condition of our personal economic status. I think the GREAT PINCH to come will be harder if we don’t learn to economize now.

I appreciate women like you Whoopi. Straight talk and no bull. Telling it the way it is without malice is good in my book. We can’t always tip-toe around important subjects for fear that someone might be offended. We are not, after all, responsible for other people’s reactions to our own opinions when the opinions are asked for and given without intentional harm. That’s what is so great about our country and so many people forget what IS great about it in the light of a looming recession. We still have freedom of speech.

I own my small business and ship to Canada several times a week. It’s less expensive to ship packages to Canada than to ship them within the United States. A 2 ounce package costs 94 cents to Canada from the US and $1.38 to ship within the US. I also understand that Canada charges 40% customs duty for articles valued over $30. Yikes!

I was born and raised in the South where girls were taught, in my day, that “ladies” do not fight. My only experience with a bully was in the 6th grade and the bully was a female. She bullied the entire school. She settled on me one week as I was a studious type and an easy mark, I guess. One afternoon as I was walking home from school, she and her cronies cornered me in an alley and she challenged me to a fight. When I refused, she slapped me. I cold-cocked her and continued my way home. It was a lucky punch and I suppose that watching the Friday Night fights with my dad was good for something. Long story short; she never bullied anyone else. True story. Maybe the reason these kids grow up to be bullies is that they have already had one trip too many to the woodshed. Their parents should be accountable.

My mother designed and made my first wedding dress and it was a stunner! I saved my money until I had enough for a whole bolt of Alencon lace. The dress was made of peau de soie and my mother appliqued the lace and tiny seed pearls on it. She made my veil from silk tulle, something I wouldn’t recommend as it rots with age. I saved the lace from my veil for my niece to use for her wedding. The dress is still with me even though my mother isn’t. That wedding dress contains memories that I couldn’t buy in a store.

I agree with db; a bully is usually just such a person. What makes a bully? A child who is bullied at home in some fashion. To find someone who is weaker to bully makes the bully feel powerful. Unfortunately, here in Texas I have observed this phenomenon quite a bit. Crying boy-children are admonished to “be a man”. I wonder if this is a “Southern” thing or more of a behavior that is seen among the Rosy-Naped society. To allow bullying to continue within any school system is wrong. Too many school systems are afraid of being sued.

I agree. Staying with him for the sake of the children will only demonstrate the loss of repect Mrs. Spitzer may have for her husband. Childen can pick up on these things! This man has betrayed his wife’s trust, assuming that she was unaware of his activities, and endangered her life in the bargain. Ladies, I’d be mad as hell! Stand up with him and share his humiliation? I think NOT! I would have been at home, calling the best divorce attorney that his money could buy, (and a lock-smith), whilst throwing his belongings on the front lawn! Let the media shine a light on that! I have known women who were married to men in positions of power and public trust. Some of the men were real SOB’s and at least one of them had a penchant for “other” women. Why do these women stay in a marriage like that? Money, power, and social position. Everything gets hushed-up. In my opinion, these ladies need a little more starch in their petticoats!

How about “sex therapists”?

My favorite Chinese restaurant changed owners after decades of being owned by one family. I decided to try the new owners out to see if they had changed the wonderful soups that I was used to eating there. The waiter brought my lovely bowl of soup and lo and behold, there was extra “meat” floating on the top! Apparently, this critter had been squashed in a stack of soup bowls as it was quite flat and quite dead! I flagged the waiter and quietly asked for another bowl of soup. The new owner came to my table and apologized profusely. They had just had the restaurant sprayed for bugs. This I understood, having owned my own restaurant for many years. It’s a constant battle in the city to keep the critters out of your restaurant! For an entire year, I received a free pound of jasmine tea whenever I ate there. They still make the best soups, by the way.