Dear Ann,

I was amazed at your cop-out response to "Sitting It Out in Beaumont," who complained about her fat, lazy stepdaughter wrecking her furniture. When you can't think of anything else to say, your pat answer is "get counseling." Wake up. A counselor cannot make the girl thin, interesting, and tidy. The writer doesn't say whether she has asked her stepdaughter to pick up after herself. Some people are just naturally sloppy. They don't see the mess unless someone points it out.

I also have a daughter who is fat and sloppy. But since she's mine, she can come over whenever she wants to and stay as long as she likes. The girl is also a bore. In fact, all my children are bores, but I love them, so I listen.

All families have some fat, boring, messy people. But they are still family and we owe them our support. What does Beaumont think a family is about, anyway? If she wants to be amused by thin, neat people, she should look elsewhere.

N.E., Evanston, Ill.

NOTE from JA:
I don't remember if there was a response from Ann to this letter.  Personally, I don't see how this letter could be improved upon.

Credit: Dear Ann
Syndicated newspaper column
Ann Landers