WOMAN GIVING MEN FAKE PHONE NUMBER IS NO LADY

DEAR ABBY:
I am a licensed psychologist and the director of a small counseling
center at a liberal arts college. Part of my duties include answering
emergency calls from students who are in crisis.

A local coed apparently has been regularly giving out my cell phone number to young men she meets in bars whom she does not want to reject on the spot. Abby, you wouldn’t believe the calls and text messages I receive at all hours of the day and night. I hear a lot in my line of work, yet some of these calls have made me blush!

Not only is this an inconvenience for me, but it would create a
difficult situation for someone in a real crisis who can’t get through
to me because my phone is tied up with these phone calls and text
messages.

Ladies, young and old alike: Please be honest. If you are not
interested in the man — say so! You don’t have to annihilate him. Just
say that you enjoyed meeting him but the “spark” isn’t there, and wish
him luck in his dating future. Please do not give him someone else’s
number. That’s a coward’s way out, and it is extremely unbecoming. And,
at the very least, you are creating an inconvenience for someone else.
I know. — PHONE CALL FIELDER IN PENNSYLVANIA

DEAR PHONE CALL FIELDER: One would think that a person who is old
enough to be looking for a good time in an establishment that serves
liquor would also be mature enough to charmingly discourage unwanted
attention. However, because the situation you have described happens
frequently, I am printing your letter.

I agree that giving someone a wrong phone number is cowardly. I have
heard from many men who have told me that if a woman isn’t interested,
she should be direct about it. Believe it or not, the honesty will be
appreciated.

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DEAR ABBY: Thanksgiving will be here soon, and I hope you will help me spread a timely message.

Each year the media cheapens the holiday by referring to it as Turkey
Day instead of Thanksgiving. Please remind your readers that the name
Turkey Day is both inaccurate and inappropriate. While I think turkeys
are charming and entertaining, our family does not gather on the fourth
Thursday of November to celebrate the intelligence or majesty of these
remarkable birds. Instead, we try to carry on the tradition of the
Pilgrims who were thankful for their bounteous blessings after
surviving their first winter in the New World.

I believe the expression “Happy Turkey Day” contributes to the dumbing
down of America, and that we are falling further and further away from
the real meaning behind the holiday with each passing year.

Please help to remind your readers to use the correct name for this
important holiday, and let’s all have a Happy Thanksgiving. Thanks for
the opportunity to vent. — MARK M. IN TAMPA, FLA.

DEAR MARK M.: I agree that it’s important not to forget the true
meaning of our national holidays. But perhaps the reason so many
members of the media — and others — refer to Thanksgiving as “turkey
day” is because it’s the time we allow ourselves to “gobble, gobble,
gobble.”