Dear Ann Landers: You have printed some letters about the court system in Texas and how tough it is on criminals. Now, I would like to tell you about my experience in the Lone Star State.
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After being in business for close to 40 years, I hired a bookkeeper so I could devote more time to my terminally ill wife. That bookkeeper turned out to be a con artist and an embezzler. He cleaned me out within 14 months.
It cost me almost $7,000 to put together a case against him before the district attorney would agree to press charges. When the D.A. checked this crook’s background, he discovered the guy had been convicted of embezzlement before.
His first conviction resulted in a 35-year sentence, but he was released early on parole. Believe it or not, this con artist was then hired to work in the comptroller’s office for the State of Texas.
It took prosecutors six years to prove he was embezzling from the state. For that conviction, he received a 99-year sentence. However, because he helped the D.A. catch another embezzler in the system, he served only one year and then walked.
When my case came to trial, I discovered the D.A. had allowed this criminal to plea-bargain the embezzlement on the grounds that it was his first offense. He was sentenced to five years but served less than 10 months before he was allowed to walk out, a free man.
This con artist admitted in writing that he took $60,000 from me. He was told to reimburse me at a measly $32.95 a month, with no interest or late charges. The D.A.’s office also conveniently lost the paperwork on this case, including three years’ worth of my company records. Try explaining THAT to the Internal Revenue Service.
— Somewhere in Central Texas
Dear Somewhere: I have been writing this column for 43 years, and I cannot recall hearing about a case that equaled yours for outrageous injustice or made me angrier. Unfortunately, sometimes the man in the middle ends up with the short end of the stick.
Dear Ann Landers: I’m writing about people who believe that sex has nothing to do with love and that it is “unhygienic and degrading.” In particular, I refer to the woman who said, “Why do you assume that if a woman doesn’t like sex, something is wrong with her? You’d be surprised how many wives go through life faking it.”
From my own experience and from close observation of many married couples, including my parents, I know this woman is not exaggerating. Besides disliking sex, many wives subtly discourage it altogether. Others are less subtle. They simply say, “I don’t want any more sex,” and there’s no more after that.
I spent many years away from home when I served in the military and later as a traveling salesman. I can tell you that when some husbands are on the road, they almost automatically feel a strong desire for a woman. These men actively seek out lonely females or even prostitutes at bars and restaurants, and there is no shortage of either. Is there a connection? You bet there is. Men who are married to women who don’t like sex will most assuredly find it somewhere. The husband who is satisfied at home is not likely to go on the prowl when he is away. Sign me . . .
— A Southern Gentleman
Dear Southern Gentleman: I’m sure you speak for Northern gentlemen, as well. Thanks for a letter that just might alter the bedroom behavior of women whose theme song is “Sorry, dear, not tonight. I have a headache.”