Director Lacks Common Sense

Dear Ann Landers: I am enclosing a newspaper clipping from the Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Citizens’ Voice. It reports that Stanford University’s athletic director has apologized to local Catholic school officials because of a half-time show by the university’s band. The show apparently featured a parody of the Irish potato famine and a mock debate between a Catholic cardinal and the devil and referred to the Irish as “stinking drunks.” Although the athletic director admitted the band’s act was not in very good taste, the school officials said they planned no sanctions.

I am outraged. How could such a distinguished university as Stanford permit a performance so vulgar and insulting to take place? To make a joke of the Irish potato famine that took the lives of more than a million people is reprehensible. This insult to the Catholic Church and people of Irish descent should cause some heads to roll. An apology doesn’t quite cut it. Please print this letter, and let the rest of the world know what goes on in that distinguished temple of learning. - Hurt and Sad in Pennsylvania

Dear Pennsylvania: Obviously, that athletic director showed a lack of ordinary common sense, but what about the students who participated in such an incredibly tasteless performance? Anyone smart enough to be admitted to Stanford University should know better than to participate in a skit that ridicules an ethnic group. If a Stanford student, professor or member of the administration would like to comment about this, I would be happy to hear from you.

Dear Ann Landers: It was with great interest that I read the comments from the woman who had triplets. She was upset that everyone assumed she had taken fertility drugs or that she was miserable about having to care for so many children. I have not only 24-year-old triplets but a 25-year-old daughter, a 26-year-old son and another son who will soon be 29. I had six children in 4-1/2 years. Five were born within 25 months.

My husband was in the Army and was sent to Korea for a year when the triplets were 6 months old. Does this sound dreadful? It was nothing of the sort. I can honestly say those were the very best years of my life. I was able to go back to my hometown, where I rented a two-bedroom house with a fenced yard, and I even attended my high school reunion. My wonderful classmates viewed me as some sort of celebrity, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

I look back now and wonder how in the world I did all that without going completely nuts. It was only by the grace of God and with his strength that I managed to cope with those children. It was my faith that carried me through. I figured if God gave them to me, he would see to it that I had the capacity to take care of them, and he certainly did. - Charlotte in Georgia

Dear Charlotte: Now that a woman from Carlisle, Iowa, a small town outside of Des Moines, has given birth to septuplets, a mere three sounds like a piece of cake. The parents, Bobbi and Kenny McCaughey, already had one child, and Mrs. McCaughey was taking fertility drugs.

The outpouring of support and gifts has been heartwarming. By the time this column appears in print, you can be sure the McCaugheys will have been offered a new home, with a world-class nursery, and gifts worth many hundreds of thousands of dollars. And I’ll bet the college education of the seven children will be assured as well. Americans once again have proven to be the most compassionate people on the face of the Earth and the most generous. God bless America!