Editor’s Note: Hundreds of Ann Landers’ loyal readers have requested that newspapers continue to publish her columns of the past 47 years. These letters originally appeared in 1996.
Dear Ann Landers: My sister is a wonderful mother who has three adorable 6-year-old triplets. They don’t attract as much attention as they did when they were babies, but she still has to endure a great many rude comments from strangers and acquaintances.
How or why my sister had triplets is nobody’s business. Many more women undergo fertility treatments and have single births, yet no one asks mothers of single babies if their reproductive systems work. My sister has been asked repeatedly, “Did you take drugs?” Also, she’s been told by total strangers, “I’m glad they are yours, and not mine.”
Ann, please ask your readers when they see twins or triplets to exercise good manners. Not only is it none of their business under what conditions the children were conceived, but it’s rude to ask. To their parents and families, these children are multiple blessings. They don’t enjoy people viewing them as freaks.
It’s refreshing (and rare) to hear someone say, “How wonderful! You’ve certainly been blessed to have had three healthy, beautiful children at one time.” Printing this letter will be a huge favor for women who have twins or triplets.
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— A Loving Sister
Dear Loving Sister: Quints, quads, triplets and twins are going to attract attention from strangers by virtue of the fact that they are “different.” This is an inescapable fact of life.
People who ask if the mother took fertility drugs are tactless clods and do not deserve a civil response. You might say, “Why would you ask a question like that?”
Dear Ann Landers: I am a resident of Alaska. On every map I’ve seen, our great state has been shrunk and relocated down in the Gulf of Mexico. If that’s not bad enough, many statistical maps do not even include Alaska and Hawaii as part of the nation.
I am astounded at the number of people I have spoken with on the telephone who confirm my address as Anchorage, Arkansas, thanks to the AK abbreviation. And that’s not the worst of it. They apply the same formula to time zones. Many callers on the East Coast telephone at the ungodly hour of 8 a.m. their time, which is 4 a.m. where we are. Even with the incredible amount of daylight we are now experiencing, we do need some sleep up here.
Please, Ann, tell your readers that AK stands for Alaska, not Arkansas. You may use my name.
— C.J. Kukoski in Anchorage
Dear C.J.: Here’s your letter. I hope it helps, but don’t underestimate the ignorance of some people.
I recently received a letter from a woman who said she would like to move to Alaska but was reluctant to sell her new Acura and travel by dog sled. She had heard the weather in Juneau is so cold nobody has automobiles because the gasoline freezes in the tanks. And people accuse me of making up letters! I could never make up letters as good as the ones I get.
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To find out more about Ann Landers and read her past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.