DEAR ABBY: My husband works for an oil company, offshore seven days and onshore seven days. I'm just a housewife who can't even get to her own husband when he's working offshore, but listen to this, Abby. There are seven females who are now working side by side with the men on that rig, thanks to the government and women's lib!
Those women also eat and sleep under the same roof as the men. My husband says his company is bound by law to hire women, and there's nothing he can do about it.
There are plenty of jobs for decent women on land, so why would a decent woman want to work on an oil rig with a bunch of men? They say these women demanded equal rights. Where the hell are MY rights?
My husband says I don't have to worry - that no funny business is going on and the men treat the women just like they were guys. Do you really buy that, Abby? - M.B. FROM TEXAS
DEAR M.B.: Yes, I buy it. And furthermore, any woman who works alongside a man on an oil rig is earning her bread the hard way. If she wanted to cash in on her femininity, I can think of several other jobs she could have chosen.
DEAR ABBY: As many others have said, I never thought I'd be writing a letter to Dear Abby, but I must confess, I don't know where to turn.
Our 17-year-old son has become interested in a girl. We've always wanted him to have girlfriends, but this one might not be good for him. A week ago Saturday, on their first date, they went to a movie. (We let him use the family car.) He came home at 7:45 Sunday morning!
He said that after the movie, he went to her house to watch television and they both fell asleep. Last Saturday night he went out at 7 p.m. and came home at 4:30 Sunday morning. Wouldn't you say that something is drastically wrong with a mother who would allow a 15-year-old girl to keep such hours?
Any advice his father and I give him causes nothing but back talk. We've always had a good relationship with our son until now. What do you suggest? - WORRIED
DEAR WORRIED: I suggest that his father have a man-to-man talk with the boy. Of course the girl's parents should place some restrictions on her with regard to the hours she keeps, but since they do not (or she ignores them), it's up to you to put some on your son. Tell him what time you want him home, and if he doesn't comply, the key to the situation is the one that fits the car.
DEAR ABBY: I have seven kids and a husband I cannot trust around the corner. When he goes out at night, I never know how late he will be coming home - if at all.
I have found lipstick on his handkerchiefs and even on his underwear. If I yell at him and say I am going to leave him, he asks where do I think I am going to find a man who will want a woman with seven kids. Then he tells me that he is going to leave me and find a quieter, more understanding woman.
I am a good woman, neat and clean, and folks say I am a good-looker. What can I tell him? - ONE PLUS SEVEN
DEAR ONE: You can tell him that it might be a lot easier for you to find a man who will want you and your seven kids than it will be for him to find a more "quiet and understanding woman" who would want him after he gets through shelling out child support for seven kids.
DEAR ABBY: I was recently in France and did some grocery shopping. All the carts were lined up between two iron rails. In order to get one out, one must deposit a franc (the equivalent of a quarter), and when the cart is returned, the money is returned.
I think this method could be successfully used in the United States. N'est-ce pas? - GRETCHEN L. LEHMANN
DEAR GRETCHEN: Oui. And according to my readers, it is also being used in Hastings, Neb.; Philadelphia; and Dusseldorf, Germany.
People are eating them up! For Abby's favorite recipes, send a long, business-size, self-addressed envelope, plus check or money order for $3.95 ($4.50 in Canada), to: Dear Abby, Cookbooklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054. (Postage is included.)