LizLetters

Ringmaster Rumsfeld

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Department of Defense
1000 Defense, The Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301

Dear Mr. Rumsfeld:

    When I first read that circus clowns were brought in to entertain the offspring of Pentagon employees during “Bring Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day,” I thought this was doing the kids a disservice. They might grow up thinking that going to work is all fun and games. They would be mighty disappointed to show up for their first day at the office to find a dearth of professional merrymakers.
    But then I realized how brilliantly symbolic this was, and that the children are not being misled at all in thinking that the Pentagon is one big circus. I applaud your transparency in representing the theater that is our government. Just as it was difficult at the recent correspondents’ dinner to determine which of the figures on the stage was impersonating a president, it must have been difficult to tell the performers from the staff at times.
    Sounds like a fun time. I just wouldn’t want to clean up after the elephants.

Truly,

Liz Mann

Flip-flopping

Board Member Jacqueline Smith
Jefferson County Board of Education
2100 South 18th Street
Birmingham, AL 35209

Dear Ms. Smith,

    I just read about the proposed changes to the dress codes in your area schools. I am writing to discourage you from banning flip-flops. It sounds reasonable at first to want to protect youngsters’ toes from wayward falling objects, but I have incurred more injury to my feet as a result of an elementary school policy against flip-flops than I would have if I had been wearing the sandals every day of my life.
    As a child I had very sensitive feet, and socks caused me a great deal of discomfort. Flip-flops were the most comfortable thing to wear. In second grade a teacher informed me that I could not wear them to school. I went back to the shoes and socks, and got out of the habit of wearing flip-flops at all. As a result, when I finally put flip-flops on again, they hurt my feet, which were no longer accustomed to them. I spent years going through various kinds of sandals and winding up with endless chafes and blisters before finding a sandal that I could wear. Still, I rue the day I was made to retire those flip-flops.
    You are quoted in the news as saying that flip-flops are not practical in the rain or for running. I disagree wholeheartedly. If you are walking in the rain with flip-flops, you do not have to worry about getting your socks and shoes wet. The sandals, and your feet, will dry off quickly and not be damaged! They can be removed quickly if one needs to run during an emergency, unlike many of the styles of shoes young women wear these days.
    In general I am against imposing any more restrictions on kids than are absolutely necessary. Unfortunately we live in the Age of Litigation, but even with all the paper in the school budget you could not write enough rules to completely protect the school district from that.

Truly,

Liz Mann

Woman in Prison 3

Christy Marie Camp
W-32687
D1-10-02L
VSPW
P.O. Box 92
Chowchilla, CA 93610-0092

Dear Christy,

    Thanks for the letter and photo. Thanks also for sending the copy of your book! Your account of life for women in prison is very moving. I see that, as you mentioned, much of it is online on web sites such as Cell Door Magazine. I have printed out a couple of pages from my site so you can see what it looks like. That’s basically what people see, plus copies of your letters, which my printer did not print out for some reason. I am enclosing a copy of an e-mail a friend sent to the governor asking him to grant you clemency. I’m also sending a copy of another prison-related letter I sent out.
    After reading your description of prisons and the prison system, I feel that I have a much better idea of what life is like “inside” than before. But it also brings up more questions, which I won’t bombard you with all at once. It is fascinating to get a detailed account of the experience of prison life, along with insightful commentary and conclusions from someone who is going through the experience. You wrote: “A woman doing days count hours, a woman doing months counts days, a woman doing years counts months, a woman doing life counts breaths.”
    You talk about the effect of prison on prisoners as well as on those who work in prisons. It reminded me of the Stanford Prison Experiment of 1971 in which some young men were put into a mock prison situation, some as prisoners and some as guards, randomly, and they took their roles to heart to say the least. Have you heard/read about it?
    I would like to send you something to thank you for going to the trouble of mailing me a copy of your book. I am not sure what you would want or need, or what you are allowed to have. The document about mailing things, on the VSPW web site, is more than 20 pages long, so I figured I would just check with you about it before wading through all the rules. Can you receive books if they are mailed from a book store?
    In your last letter you asked what a “SAHM” is. It’s a stay-at-home-mom, the latest politically-correct version of what used to be “housewife” and then was “homemaker.” 
    You mentioned that you have a parole hearing in June. Do you need to prepare for that? What is involved?
    Sorry it took me a little while to write back to you. I went on a road trip to visit my parents in Idaho and I wanted to read your book before writing.
    Take care.

Truly,

Liz Mann

A Vote For George

George Clooney
c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90212-1825

Dear Mr. Clooney,

    You have been doing some amazing and important work lately. I am writing to congratulate you on your successes and thank you for staying true to your principles.
    I am sure this has been suggested to you before, but I am wondering whether you would consider running for office. I just read that Kelsey Grammer is considering doing so. The last thing we need is another celebrity Republican on the ballot. Perhaps you and Sean Penn could run on a ticket together.
    I just read that you are having a birthday in a few days. Have a good one! I look forward to voting for you soon.

Truly,

Liz Mann

Measure Twice, Cut... Carefully

Percy Honniball
3032 Kansas Street
Oakland, CA 94602

Dear Mr. Honniball,

    I am writing to offer my moral support in your current predicament. After receiving multiple citations for conducting your carpentry work in the buff, the local news caught wind of the story. As I write this I am out of town, so I do not know what the public response has been, but I hope it does not cause you any trouble. Communities can be divided on issues like nude carpentry. This could pit neighbor against neighbor.
    One would think that of all the places one could opt out of clothing, it would be the Bay Area. You have shown us that we are not nearly as tolerant as we would like people across the country to think we are. I am working to get nudist-friendly people into office. So far I have attempted to recruit a supervisor from Pennsylvania. Got to start small.
    In light of a news story I saw at the same time I read about you, I would like to offer a warning. It seems logical that when performing physical tasks, clothing is nearly always a hindrance. But that is just what Michael Urbano of Hayward thought the other night when he was attempting to enter a house through a chimney. Skin can create resistance. He would have done better to simply select the proper fabric, something smooth.
    Safety first!

Truly,

Liz Mann

Working Women

Marty Nemko
5936 Chabolyn Terrace
Oakland, CA 94618

Dear Mr. Nemko,

    When I came across an article in the paper this morning about Equal Pay Day (April 25th), I was reminded of a piece you wrote a while back on how women now earn the same, if not more, than men. This sort of assertion generally makes my hackles bristle, and I went to your web site intending to reread the piece and then write to you about how angry I am about it. As often happens for me, my anger is diluted by confusion. I frequently read claims, in reputable publications, that the wage gap is as wide as ever. My female friends’ experiences attest to the same.
    You have written again recently about the book to which you originally referred, Why Men Earn More, by Dr. Warren Farrell. Apparently his research is thorough and sound. Had I the free time, I might sit down with the various studies on the matter and form my own conclusions. If I did this with every issue for which I found contradictory information on different news sources, I would never sleep.
    My best guess is that there are still many workplaces across the country in which women are paid less than men for the same work. There are likely plenty of places where the opposite is true, and a good number where pay is equal.
    Trouble arises when we look at unequal pay as a problem. It is a symptom. Some people have it, some people don’t. In those who have it, it needs to be treated. Like a virus, it’s always rampant somewhere. There are companies that are in great need of scouring their offices with disinfectant, while others see few “sick days.” Forgive the runaway metaphor. The reason I can not get angry with you is that you seem to genuinely want to remind people how they can protect themselves from the Unequal Pay Virus. You offer thoughtful and balanced advice.
    I get suspicious when people simplify things too much. Even with equal pay across the board, things will be different for women. How can we conquer “old boys’ clubs”? How can we eliminate sexual harassment? However we do it, it will probably take a shamefully long time.
    Thanks for your time.

Truly,

Liz Mann

No Place Like Home

Edith Macefield
1438 NW 46th Street
Seattle, WA  98107

Dear Ms. Macefield,

    I am writing to express my admiration of your steadfast resolve in staying where you want to be. Various news sources have picked up the story from your local paper, which describes how developers have offered you a large sum of money for your property so that they can tear it down and use the site for a retail complex.
    If you were to ask my advice, part of me would want to tell you to take the money and run. I am generally not a fan of big developers, and I do not want them to “win,” but I worry that your home will feel like a bird’s nest at the bottom of a granite crevasse after they build structures around you. I do, however, understand your determination. From Mr. Westneat’s stories in the paper, it looks like you have many local supporters. I am guessing your place may even become a tourist attraction. Perhaps you could make the same amount that the developers were offering you by selling T-shirts on your porch! If nothing else, that would further annoy the developers. One more point for you!
    Take care and good luck.

Truly,

Liz Mann

Rabenmutter

Federal Minister Ursula von der Leyen
Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth
Alexanderplatz 6
10178 Berlin
Germany

Dear Dr. von der Leyen,

    You lived in Stanford, California, just a short drive from where I live, in the mid-1990s, so you are probably aware of the small amount of attention that is devoted to international news in the mainstream media. It was just today that I learned that Germany is now led by a woman for the first time. Hooray! And it seems as though this new leader, Chancellor Angela Merkel, made a wise choice selecting you for the position of minister for family affairs.
    I read about you in an article on the issue of working mothers in Germany. I was fascinated that there is a specific word in German, Rabenmutter (mother raven), that is a derogatory term for mothers who work outside the home. It’s astounding that this issue is still so ingrained in societies worldwide. What is even more astounding is that with these issues still at hand, many women who ought to know better think we don’t need feminism any more.
    With seven children, you know the struggle first hand of balancing family and work. I have been a mother of one for less than two years, and am in a situation that many American women share: the employment I had when I gave birth would not have paid enough to even cover childcare, had I wanted to return to the job. While I love being home with my daughter, I also have little choice. It feels strange to be in a situation that is so stereotypically “traditional” in a patriarchal system. Few talk openly about the corner into which parenthood paints people. Just as it is seen as unpatriotic to question war in a time of war, it is frowned upon to question the family structure when you are supposed to be part of a family.
    An ideal and unrealistic solution for my family would be for my husband and myself to each work half-time. Working part-time, though, tends to garner less pay and no benefits. I have read about “job-sharing,” but have never seen it put into practice. Do you have such a system in Germany? As someone who has some knowledge of, and distance from, the united States, why do you think we are unable to put some seemingly-simple changes into practice to help families when “family values” are supposedly our top priority?
    Thanks for your time. Good luck in all your endeavors.

Truly,

Liz Mann

Earth Day

Former President-Elect Al Gore
2100 West End Avenue, Suite 620
Nashville, TN 37203

Dear Mr. Gore:

    As many Americans are, I am still saddened that your presidency was foiled. That is not why I am writing to you, however. I am happy to see that you have been channeling your energy into valiant efforts to get information out there about the ongoing threats to the environment. As today is Earth Day, I thought I would drop you a line and tell you so.
    I tend to be pessimistic about the future of the environment, though I am sure a more hopeful attitude would make it easier to think of solutions rather than focus on problems. I just have too little faith in human nature and our ability to change the behaviors that have gotten us into this mess. Of course, part of human nature is that one cannot begin to solve a problem before one admits that there is a problem. The Bush administration, it seems, is still far from this stage in the process. We also need to increase accountability. Not only are we blind to our own contributions to pollution, we are blaming other countries for polluting our American air.
    I am looking forward to seeing your film that is coming out soon, “An Inconvenient Truth,” and possibly getting clues about what can be done to prevent a man-made ecological disaster. Thank you for your ongoing work for the good of the planet.

Truly,

Liz Mann

Vegetarians? In Boise?

Jan House, owner
Bistro @ BoDo (formerly Koffee Klasch)
409 S 8th Street
Boise, Idaho 83702

Dear Ms. House,

    I was born and raised in California, but I visit Idaho frequently, as my parents live there. For several years, one of the highlights of a trip to Boise was a meal at the Koffee Klatsch. My husband and I are vegetarians, and it was a place that we could go with my non-vegetarian parents and each find something we enjoyed. It reminded me of the Bay Area in many ways, with plants and paintings everywhere, live music and a generally laid-back atmosphere.
    I almost did not believe my folks when they said the restaurant was closed for renovation. I was truly flabbergasted when they reported to me that it had reopened under new ownership as a bistro with wild game on the menu.
    People often become vegetarians for environmental or ethical reasons. I have heard the argument made that focusing on locally grown food, including meat, is better for the environment than vegetarianism is. I have also heard it said that hunting is “good” for animals as a form of population control. I am a bit suspicious of the latter reasoning, and I simply can’t wrap my brain around the need or desire to kill creatures for food, display or profit when it is not necessary.
    Leaving the debate on vegetarianism aside, I am left with a question. A review of your restaurant from a couple of months back cites a comment you made that you would like to sever the location’s associations with veggie food. You apparently are tired of people asking you about it. Why, I wonder, did you not simply open a Bistro in a different location and let the Koffee Klatsch retain the elements that made it special?
    Alas, it looks as though my next meal out in Boise will be the old standby, veggie pizza.

Truly,

Liz Mann