ZOOKEEPER CRINGES AT PARENTS PASSING MISINFORMATION TO KIDS (Dear Abby)

Uexpress ^ | November 18, 2005 | Dear Abby

[MEGoody]

heard parents, out of ignorance or impatience, lie to their child about the animals they are observing.

If they do it out of ignorance, it isn't lying.

MEGoody cringes at zookeepers who don't know definitons of words.

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Exactly right. Maybe it's impractical for her to go back to school. Maybe they can't afford it. Maybe she has new ideas like this every week. Who knows. What I've read of her shows that she's only interested in her feelings, and not anyone elses.

My advice to her would be: "The grass is not always greener on the other side, sweetheart. You've turned to pills, counselors, and advice columnists - how about you turn to Christ for the answer? I bet you'd find His answer to be quite different."

[RockinRight]

You have an point-I forgot that they had a child together-I had thought only the two grown kids of the hubby were in the picture.

[dead]

I tell my kids that hippos are midget elephants and Big Bird is a giant gay canary.

They need to know the truth about these things, not the gibberish some zoo keeper's gonna babble on about.

[bella1]

In regard to the first letter, I say who cares! On a scale of 1 to 10 in the misinformation department this one rates about a 0.5.

As for the second; Honey, you married him. I would bet that he told you exactly how he felt before the marriage, but you undoubtedly thought he would change. He's in his 50's. Get real. Maybe he doesn't feel like dealing with teenagers when he is 70. Grow up.

[Always Right]

I think the zoo keeper should butt out. It is none of his business and just a pet peeve of his. It is not like parents are the only place you get misinformation from. I had a teacher tell me you can't subtract 5 from 2, and when I tried to explain negative numbers using a thermometer as an example she got mad. Of all the misinformation, if a child is misinformed what a pygmie is, so what.

[Always Right]

Exactly, Abby is 0-2. They have a child together. Too late to renig on the deal.

[waverna]

At what point is it OK to make a decision you know will hurt someone else just for yourself?

If that 'someone else' is her 8 year old daughter, the answer is "Never", and probably should also be so for her husband.

[beezdotcom]

Yeah, when's the last time Dear Abby actually said "I don't know", instead of either shooting from the hip or passing along someone else's opinion as gospel...?

[fish hawk]

You mean that the large pointed lump on that Rhino's nose is not from telling lies??

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Dear Abby is to Dr. Laura

what

Grecian Mythology is to Christianity.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Reminds me of the song from "Your a Good Man, Charlie Brown", where Lucy is giving Linus a science "lesson". Hearing all here inaccurate claims, CB finally intervenes, only to be shouted down by Lucy.

At the end, he walks over to a tree and starts banging his head in frustration. Linus ask's Lucy why, and she responds:

"To loosen the bark, so the tree will grow faster"

If I called a zookeeper over to talk to my kid, the question my child would ask would be "do you think the animals feel safe, or are they afraid we can get over these flimsy fences and eat them?"

[Dog Gone]

MEGoody cringes at zookeepers who don't know definitons of words.

It's hard to find a decent docent.

[A Ruckus of Dogs]

No, Abby should have slapped the woman in the head for being all about herself

I don't think that was limited to the woman but to her husband as well. He was the one who said he didn't want her getting some more education.

[Sonny M]

Yeah, when's the last time Dear Abby actually said "I don't know", instead of either shooting from the hip or passing along someone else's opinion as gospel...?

My mother thinks that whenever "abby" can't answer (or one of her associates), she simply doesn't print the letter or answer it, and just calls it backlog.