Dear Ann Landers: I didn`t dislike seat belts, I detested them. All the usual reasons, plus since I am a busty 4 foot 11, the shoulder strap cut across me in all the wrong places.
Last year I married a man who never orders me to do anything except fasten my seat belt. Three weeks ago we were in a god-awful accident. The car flipped over 2 1/2 times and landed upside down. Miraculously, we crawled out on our own, with nothing but minor injuries. The car was totaled. There isn`t a shred of doubt in our minds: Those seat belts saved our lives.
Ann, we were driving within the speed limit, and the accident wasn`t our fault. Some fool who must have been going 90 miles an hour crowded us off the road, and there was no place to go but the ditch.
May I pass on a very important message to your readers? Please put it in big type. THE ONLY PEOPLE WHO DON`T NEED TO WEAR SEAT BELTS ARE THOSE WHO ARE NEVER GOING TO BE IN AN ACCIDENT. And, brother, if you think that`s you, you are dead wrong. Sign me . . .
Almost Mangled in Michigan
Dear Almost Mangled: Thousands (maybe millions) of people have had a similar experience. I hope every person who reads this will take your letter seriously. How foolish not to take that simple precaution. It can mean the difference between life and death.
Dear Ann Landers: I can`t wait to comment on those letters from your correspondents who deny that the women`s movement had anything to do with the competitiveness and rancor that exists between the sexes.
It is now clear that women`s lib is indeed responsible for many of the problems we face today. I`m talking about unemployed family men, marital infidelity, the high divorce rate and messed-up kids who were (and continue to be) dumped in crummy day-care centers or left with moronic baby-sitters.
The women you should want to hear from are those, like me, who were victims of that feminist claptrap. I now know that women`s lib is baloney. And baloney is baloney no matter how you slice it. Meanwhile, I hope Phyllis Schlafly won`t assume from this letter that I have defected to her side. I wouldn`t free myself from one bunch of goofy broads to join another group of lunatics. You can just . . .
Count Me Out in O. City
Dear O. City: You may want to be counted out, but a surprising number of readers wanted to be included. The response to those columns was staggering.
Many who wrote pointed out that women`s lib opened many doors to females. It also made many businesses pay women what they are worth. Those who railed against the movement made the same points that you made, and there is no denying that they have some validity.
On balance I would say that the greatest achievement of the women`s liberation movement was legislation that made discrimination on the basis of sex illegal. Not every female wants to be a truck driver or a heart surgeon, but those who want to should not be denied the opportunity.
Dear Ann Landers: Please settle a longstanding argument: Who goes through a revolving door first, the man or the woman?
Gary, Ind.
Dear G.: The man should go first and push the door for his lady. Nine out of 10 men don`t know this, and the woman is the one who does the pushing.
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What are the signs of alcoholism? How can you tell if someone you love is an alcoholic? ”Alcoholism: How to Recognize It, How to Deal With It, How to Conquer It” has the answers. For a copy send $3 and a self-addressed, stamped, business-size envelope (45 cents postage) to Ann Landers, P.O. Box 11562, Chicago, Ill. 60611-0562.
