If you care about the nation, register to vote
DEAR READERS: If you like the way things are going, VOTE. If you don’t like the way things are going, VOTE. If you have never voted before, VOTE. (Don’t be embarrassed by your ignorance -- when you get there, they’ll show you how.)
If you’re not registered to vote and don’t know where to register, contact the League of Women Voters, your county registrar’s office or your secretary of state’s office for details. All are listed in your phone directory or online. The deadlines for registering vary from state to state.
Don’t let anything - - or anybody -- keep you from voting on Tuesday, Nov. 6. It may be the most important thing you will do all year.
DEAR ABBY: I have been dating a divorced woman for four years. She said in the beginning that she had very little sexual experience because her former husband “had problems,” but decided after the divorce to find out what she was missing. She hasn’t discussed this in detail, but once in a while she lets out little snippets of information that lead me to believe she was active.
Do I have a right, now that we’re engaged, to know how many partners she had since the divorce? She’s being evasive about it. -- WONDERING WIDOWER
DEAR WONDERING: No, you do not have that “right,” because if she answers the question, your next questions will be what are their names, how many times did she sleep with them and were they better than you are in bed. Sometimes it is wiser to leave the past in the past and simply appreciate the special relationship you have with the person you love.
DEAR ABBY: “Webbed in Columbia, Md.” wondered what kind of spider went up the waterspout (July 8). Well, it depends on the location of that spout. Waterspouts in England, Australia (and I’m guessing Canada) attract spiders that are “incy wincy.” American waterspouts are climbed by “itsy bitsy” spiders. (And at this time of year we see really big ones.)
Between Englishspeaking countries there are also slightly different lyrics for “The Wheels on the Bus” and “Ring Around the Rosie.” Because my hubby and I are from opposite sides of the Atlantic “pond,” our son is learning multiple versions of many things. -SUNKISSED IN HOUSTON
DEAR SUNKISSED: Readers young and old responded to that letter, and you are correct that it depends upon which side of the pond you hail from. In the United States, it’s also “teensy weensy” and “itty bitty.” In Switzerland, it’s “inky dinky.” And then there was the following submission:
DEAR ABBY: The confusion may stem from “Webbed’s” family members having confused the “Itsy Bitsy Spider” poem (song) with the “Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini” song. The spider song I learned in school and the bikini song I heard when my dad belted it out. It made us all laugh. Thanks for the memories. -- KAREN IN RENO, NEV.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby at www. DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.