React

LETTERS ON THE AUGUST ISSUE

Readers
Know Best
The “Reader-Tested Life
Advice” was the best part
of your advice feature. After
four decades of chronic
disease, two organ trans-
plants, and some of life’s
more common turmoils,
what gets me through is the
belief that “life is a series
of unpredictable events.
You gotta go through them; Your tips in “How to Get a Person on the
you can’t go around them.” Phone” work! I was frustrated with the United
Airlines automated system, so I pressed zero
S. Cra ig, Fort Collins, Colorado

over and over. The voice said, “I don’t under-

When it comes to ignoring
stand what you want. I’ll connect you with a
minor rudeness from
strangers, I disagree (“How representative.” Lisa Sitek-Shaver, Burlington, Vermont

to Rise Above”). If some-

one cuts ahead of me in line, I don’t
yell, but I do speak up. Rude people
are hoping you’ll be a wimp—don’t
let them get away with it!
F ra n M a nnix , Watertown, Massachusetts
P H O T O - I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y K E V I N I R B Y
column, I made a huge mistake at
work. Normally, I would have gone
home and curled up in the fetal
position, but Ms. Laskas’s experience
came to mind. Instead of beating

myself up, I regrouped and learned

Thank you to Jeanne Marie Laskas from my mistake. R. H., via Internet
for sharing the advice Mister Rogers
gave her whenever she felt like a I got a kick out of the instructions in
failure. Shortly after reading her “How to Teach a Cat a Handshake.”

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HOW TO FIX OUR SCHOOLS …
THE READER’S DIGEST VERSION
We asked readers on our e-mail panel
how they’d improve U.S. schools.
Increasing teacher pay and making
parents more accountable tied for
first (15%). Their other suggestions:
>> “Teach a subject, not how to take
a federally mandated test.”
A. F., Green Valley, Arizona
>> “Use a pay-for-performance system
instead of pay based on longevity.
Eliminate tenure.”
J. H ., Sterling Heights, Michigan
>> “Require students to complete
community service to graduate.”
A. A., Norfolk, Missouri
>> “Make learning a cooperative
exercise rather than a rote memory
chore.” K. S., Merritt Island, Florida
>> “Leverage technology to ensure
that rural, suburban, and urban stu-
dents have equal opportunities.”
D. O., Arvada, Colorado
>> “Get rid of gadgets. Kids have no
social skills these days.”
A. T., Brooklyn, New York
>> “Understand that not every child
learns at the same rate.”
D. G., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
>> “Hire educators who truly love what
they do.” M. S., Fayetteville, North Carolina
>> “Take chairs away. Allow students
to stand at worktables.”
A. E., Piketon, Ohio
Want your opinion heard? Take part
in short surveys. Join Our Connection
at readersdigestconnection.com and
register to win $30,000.
8 readersdigest.com 10/09
Over the years, I’ve taught my
13-year-old cat, Smokey, to shake, sit,
kiss, and sit up. You’re right about
the need for patience and the fact
that food is a great motivator.
Karen Lord, Bogart, Georgia
Bursting the Bubble
Lenore Skenazy’s column about all
the fearmongering products for ner-
vous parents made me laugh (“Bub-
ble Babies”). What she describes is
so true. My advice to new parents:
Buy the items, like electrical outlet
covers, that truly protect against
safety hazards—and skip the rest.
Tiffany Betz, Lititz, Pennsylvania
When my friends and I were grow-
ing up in the ’70s, our moms didn’t
hound us with anti-germ gel or put
every last bit of protective gear on
us when we went out to play. Trying
to keep kids safe from the world will
not help them in the long run. I’m
sick of all these products turning
American kids into wusses.
Connie L. Harding, Fort Worth, Texas
While many of the gadgets seem
ridiculous, I admit that I’ve used my
fair share. Right before my son
learned to walk, we installed new
Berber carpeting. Before I knew it,
his knees were bleeding from crawl-
ing on it. I would have loved to find
those knee pads then! Instead, I
made some out of socks. Necessity
is often the mother of invention,
even if it seems silly to others.
René Green, Effingham, Illinois
 Animal Antics
Joanna Powell’s article
about pets rescuing
their owners remind-
ed me of something
that happened to my
father a long time
ago (“Hero Pets”).
He had left a pan on
the stove and dozed
off, and it caught fire.
His parakeet, which
was free to come and go
from its cage, knew
enough to fly down to the “This isn’t helping your reputation.”
floor, where it was less smoky,
and walk over to my dad. The chirp-
ing woke my father, who quickly put Wouldn’t it be great if we could pay
out the fire. Smart bird, huh? less for items by cutting back on the
N orma J. Ga ge, Custer, Michigan packaging? Why do shoes need a
box? Or even toothpaste tubes, for
Waste Not that matter? Why can’t canned items
Here in Debord, Kentucky, we’ve be sold in reusable jars that go back
started operating a power plant that to the manufacturer? Thanks for this
gets all its energy from municipal forward-thinking story.
solid waste (Quick Study: “Where Trudy Lundy, Spokane, Washington
Our Garbage Goes”). We send noth-
ing to landfills. Ground-up glass is A Father’s Legacy
used in our concrete-block manufac- I was moved to tears as I read David
turing plant. Steel, iron, and alumi- Mas Masumoto’s “The Growing
num are sent to metal recyclers. And Season,” about his gentle, quiet
we use clean steam to power over father. I, too, had a father who loved
I L L U S T R AT E D B Y M A R K H E AT H

7,000 homes. Plastics and Styrofoam the land. He wasn’t a farmer of

are converted back to gas in about an peaches and grapes but of corn,
hour. Our office is on a mountaintop, beans, and wheat. Strong men who
and as we look out the windows, we had to struggle for their families’
are constantly reminded of the natu- survival teach us that hard, honest
ral beauty we are commissioned to work is the way to live your life.
preserve. H arol d Ma ndel, shift supervisor, Mary Ann Lang Fuelling,
Recycling Solutions, Debord, Kentucky Mount Vernon, Indiana