ANN OR ABBY?

I read more advice from Abby simply because she was the columnist from the old St. Louis Globe paper that I read more than the Post-Dispatch. I think she may have been featured in our local RN rag as well.

I don't know if I ever followed any of the advice, maybe subliminally. I was more interested in the people who wrote for advice than the problem solving offered by the two sisters. Of course, like all readers I wondered how they got to toss out their opinions on what should be done in what particular situation. What was in their background that qualified them for the job?

With any advice or admonition there should be some responsibility, some accountability for offering to help. For instance, if someone asks me if she should stay with an abusive husband, I'd say heck no. That's easy. But if someone had a life altering question that wasn't a slam dunk, then I , for one, would really have trouble offering not just alternatives, but definitive answers. I mean, you're messing with people's lives. Where's the mandate that you can advise, Abby and Ann? And who gave it to you?

Oh well. Maybe I took them too seriously. I kinda doubted the legitimacy of some of the questions anyhow. Plus, on the positive side, maybe they did really make a difference in people's lives. We all need a little help now and then.