Letters

Letters may be edited for clarity and length. E-mail to le*****@oc******.com, or send to Letters to the Editor, c/o OC Weekly, 1666 N. Main St., Ste. 500, Santa Ana, CA 92701. Or fax to (714) 550-5908.

GOOD ADVICE
I'd like to thank Shirley Schweinberg [“Letters,” April 7] for giving me the incentive to do something I've been putting off lately. You see, Shirley, I'm a mom too, but when I read the Weekly, I'm always finding little bits of wisdom that I'd like to pass on to my son someday. I thought it would be a great idea for the editors of the Weekly to publish some sort of book that puts all that info together in one place, whether it's Dan Savage's advice to first-time monkey-spankers or an article on the ins and outs of the Mexican legal system for spring break revelers. My husband and I are committed to protecting our son, but we do it in a different way than you would probably have us do. We think honest information and education is a far better approach than burying our collective heads in the sand. There are very real dangers out there in the world, and seeing the word “motherfucker” in print isn't one of them.
Stephanie Shanahan
Via e-mail

BETTER ADVICE
I have the perfect solution to our immigration problem: God's. From 2 Thessalonians 3:10: “If anyone will not work neither shall he eat.” I would suggest that all government employees who leech off our society be shipped to Mexico and let Fox teach them how to work. Anyone who has the balls and courage to leave his homeland and seek a better life and is willing to work should be welcomed in a society that considers work a four-letter word.
Marie Kolasinski
Costa Mesa

STONED ADVICE
I read Cornel Bonca's review of The Ruins of California [“Not Particularly Reflective,” April 6] and found it interesting with the exception of his nasty comments about the decade of the 1970s. I find it ironic that he would slam the 1970s and call it a “messy, messy decade” when we are probably in one of the worst decades ethically, politically, musically and spiritually than any other.

All I see from this decade/generation is lousy attempts to copy all our stuff from the '70s—from the folk style and attempt at metal in some of the music to the tattoo craze to the fondue comeback to stupid remakes like Charlie's Angels to bell-bottoms/fashion to spiritualism like kabbalah—need I go further?

Oh, but don't let me leave out what great things this decade/generation has brought us, like great role models such as the fucking dumbest president in fucking history; your gangster rappers; disloyal ballplayers that have ruined sports for the fans; the Paris Hiltons of life; shit music like the White Stripes, void of any musicianship whatsoever; supposed metal music with no guitar leads or guitar players without the ability to do a guitar lead; stupid/meaningless reality/celebreality TV; guys with piercings/tattoos that have never rode a Harley and would cry if you looked at them wrong; cell phones plugged into everyone's heads like a third ear; and let's talk about pot in the 1970s. Pot is a bad drug??? What about this decade's/generation's great drugs like Ecstasy and GHB—wow, those are really much safer drugs than pot. Give me a fucking break!

Next time Cornel thinks about speaking about the 1970s (a decade he obviously missed out on—his loss), he might just want to take a look at the 2000s and get a grip on REALITY, and I'm not talking about the kind you get from TV today . . .
'70s and PROUD of it!!
Via e-mail

FAIR ADVICE
The following is a response to Monster's Bawl [Letters,” March 31], which was a response to Rebecca Schoenkopf's March 17 review of The Real Housewives of Orange County, “Careless People.”

Life isn't fair.

As much as Kara may not have wanted to hear her criticism, Rebecca was (I believe) actually trying to help her, her parents and society in general. Criticism only really stings if there is some truth to it. I'm sure parents mean well by trying to provide their children with everything their children want—things that maybe the parents themselves had wanted, but had to go without.

However, this is not truly in the children's best interest, nor in the parents' best interest. If someone always gets what they want, they won't really appreciate these things. And, most likely, instead of being genuinely thankful for all the things they already have, they will probably cry and pout and scream if they don't get something new that they want.

Parents: if your child is becoming a brat, here are a couple of suggestions . . .

Let your child wait for new things. If they are never hungry, they will never know the pleasure of sating that hunger.

To rid your children of a sense of entitlement, have them spend some time with some poor kids, so they can see what other (most) people's lives are like.

Take your kids to your work for a day if you can. Let them see how hard working can be. Let them know that there is ultimately no free lunch. Credit cards don't pay off themselves. Show them how much Uncle Sam gets of that hard-earned paycheck. Remind them how the president gets carte blanche to spend your hard-earned money against your will to kill people in foreign countries but barely lifts a finger to help needy U.S. citizens.

Life is not fair.

To the kids: if you don't get over whining, self-pity and self-entitlement now, you are in for a RUDE AWAKENING out in the Real World. Girls: watch your spending—unless you want to have fights every day with your husband, who you are putting in the poorhouse with your compulsive shopping habit. Guys: make sure you can control your temper, and treat everyone with respect. Money doesn't undo bad deeds—even the Haidls learned this lesson.

Life is not fair. Sometimes you will get what you want, sometimes you won't.
M.R.S.
Costa Mesa