Dear Tell All: Both Isthmus and the letter writer Challenger miss important points in deriding both Sally Ride and homophobia for the late astronaut's failure to openly acknowledge her sexual orientation ("Sally Ride Is No Hero," 9/6/2012).
First, not everything should be about sex. There really are important accomplishments that people make without needing to bring sex into the picture. For most things it is irrelevant, unimportant and private. People simply have no right to know.
Second, one of Ride's goals was to encourage kids, especially girls, to pursue science and math. I hope many did because of her efforts. But my guess is that if she'd made her sexual orientation a factor, it would have blunted her goal, seeming to acknowledge that she was successful because she was gay, rather than her sexual orientation being irrelevant.
It's time to put these discussions to rest. Most mature adults stopped acting and thinking like horny 17-year-old boys decades ago. Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of the nation did also?
Grownup
Dear Tell All: I resisted writing you after "What Women Want" (8/30/2012), which debated an Atlantic article about women attempting to have both high-level careers and families. But I feel I must. The question is not what women want, but what children need. They need parents.
Too often both parents are working full time, and then are quite busy when they are not working. Even at home, they are texting and checking their email or Facebook pages. Parents, what children want is time with you and your undivided attention. They want to feel that they are more valuable than everything else that is vying for your attention. This is when you teach them your values and equip them for life.
Unfortunately Harry Chapin's song "Cat's in the Cradle" remains the story for too many families today. Your children will grow up before you know it, and you will look back on the time you missed with them with regret.
Latch Key
