Whine

IHAD ALMOST had it. Midway into our seven-day, seven-person, multiple-family vacation, my 6-year-old niece, Ashley, found my last nerve and stepped on it. Last year, I had teased her about her high-pitched voice: "Ashley, you sound like you took a big gulp of helium." But the year of maturity didn't lower her pitch. And on the fourth day of our vacation, an ungranted request led to an even shriller sound -- the ubiquitous, universal, no-family-is-complete-without-it WHINE. Adorable, with her crystal baby-blues and her sunny blond hair, Ashley began pleading her case to her mom for something -- who knows what.

This week's episode begins at the Dubrow house with Terry clipping the toenails on his perfectly manicured feet. “It's OK not to tell a joke every second,” replies Heather when Terry asks why she has been so upset with him lately. Heather complains about how exhausting it is to be on “The Terry Dubrow Show” 24/7 and says she is tired of feeling not supported by her husband. Tamra invites the group (sans Alexis) to a wine-tasting trip for her Wines by Wives business she started with Vicki.

Ozzie Guillen, who plays baseball for the Chicago White Sox, is unhappy with the fans.Although the strike has ended, he says fans are being unusually abusive and he doesn't understand their attitude."

As talk of the sequester ratchets upward in the ranks of government employees who might be affected ("Sequester furloughs begin for U.S. public defenders," April 4), here's a quick word of advice: Keep the whining to yourselves! While readers generally do not like to hear of the government's heavy handed financial impact on fellow citizens, the vast majority don't shed crocodile tears over discussions of government employee furloughs "of up to 14 days. " Before posting lengthy editorials on the possible negative effects of the sequester, please consider how those in the private sector - outside of the golden triangle of government contractors, finance and health care - have been brutalized by the recession.

You pull your new shirt out of the store bag and notice a button is missing. What do you do?You could sew on a replacement button. Or you could complain.Consumer advocate Marti Ann Schwartz says kids shouldn't be afraid to complain. Schwartz, who heads a business called The Consummate Consumer, based in Beaverton, Ore., says: "Stores want to keep you satisfied. They're looking to you for a lifetime of purchases."This doesn't give you a license to whine, though. "Don't threaten, be rude or use inappropriate language," Schwartz says.

A loud anti-government whineSays spending is way out of line;Cut here and cut thereBut do have a care --Entitlements? Never cut mine.

It is outrageous for state senators to whine about fairness to John Arnick. The issue is fairness to future defendants, victims, witnesses and attorneys in court.The Bill and Bill show plays well on TV. The only thing he might worry about is how few TV hits last four years.I wish I could promise you what I promised you last summer, but everything is different now. -- Hit refrain of 1993.The Baltimore Museum of Art is showing the Paris fashions of 1945. This town is a little slow, but it gets there.

Buzz, buzz, buzz. Whine, whine, whine. An irritating, high-pitched humming around my ears kept interrupting my efforts to concentrate on Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing. Finally, I couldn't stand it any longer. WHAP! Oops. There goes Henry. When the main character gets in the way of a play, it's a very bad sign. It happened repeatedly during the Olney Theatre Center production, and while I wasn't wild about the performances or staging, it really wouldn't be fair to blame the actors. The worst that can be said of them is that they didn't rise above the material.

THE GREAT Whine: Well, I am tired of it, and I'm not sure it's fair to the group of baby boomers, who are your basic thirtysomething people, and who don't whine.I read it first in a magazine, and it made me mad: It goes something like this.The baby boomers have it bad on both ends. They have to figure out how to take care of their own kids while they both work; and at the same time, they are having to worry about taking care of their aging parents, and the enormous projected medical costs.

Skip Doctor heals your scratched CDs for smoother sound I'd heard it all about miracle-working products that could repair damaged compact discs. I'd squeeze bottles of the latest gunk onto a scratch-laden disc, buff it with a cloth and test the results - only to hear skips remain on my favorite songs. So, when an editor placed a boxed Skip Doctor ($49 for the motorized version; a hand-crank version is $29.99) on my desk for a moment, I asked if I could try it - figuring the device was worth a shot.

Maybe now some of the Ravens fans will stop whining. Oh, they let Ed Reed go, they let Dannell Ellerbe go, they let Paul Kruger go, they cut Bernard Pollard ... Whine, whine, whine ... The entire time I kept saying the Ravens were making the right moves and they still could make a big, major acquisition. Forget the salary cap baloney -- when a team wants to make a deal, when they feel a player is a priority, then they can make the deal regardless of cap status. It might cost them a veteran or two, and it might hurt in the future, but it can happen.

I have just voted in my 15th consecutive presidential election and wish to address the many angry Republican voters who have been writing to The Sun to mourn the passing of America's primacy. Please give us a break. Of the 15 elections I have participated in, I have voted for the winner in only seven. Now it's your turn. You lost. Your opinions do not hold water. Remember this: you have been wrong on every important issue in the 20th century. The country is still secure and will remain so under Democratic stewardship just as it did through the 1990s and now in the second decade of the 21st century.

I have read and listened to the citizens of Baltimore whine and complain about BGE's inability to restore power immediately after last month's freak storm ("Report from BGE details efforts to get storm crews," Aug. 1). Didn't they read about the crews they got from other states to help out, or the fact that they worked 24/7 in 100-degree heat to restore power? Didn't they see the number of trees felled or the amazing number of dangerous downed lines that could not be repaired in a day or two?

The "derecho" that surprised weather forecasters and everyone else with its suddenness, fury and destruction has to be put into perspective. This was a huge storm affecting many states. People were killed in this storm. Homes were lost. And yet I continue to read in your paper whining over BGE's customer service lines not being immediately answered, precise number of hours someone had to wait for power to be restored and second-guessing of service restoration priorities. I traveled through West Virginia and eastern Ohio two weeks after the storm hit. A motel room along I-70 could not be found due to accommodation for the out of state repair crews still working to restore power to that area.

Here's what I wish most of all for these NBA Finals, which begin tonight in Oklahoma City: can we please stop fixating on the officials? Can we give that whole tired issue a rest? Can we just enjoy this compelling matchup between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder without whining about all the flopping, traveling, elbowing and offensive fouls the refs are supposedly missing? Don't people ever get sick of blaming the refs whenever their team loses? Sure, there have been a number of controversial calls in the NBA playoffs so far. But you want to know something?

Recently I've read several Letters to the Editor from the Savonarola Republicans sneering at access to contraceptives. Their attitude seems to be that they pay all the taxes and should be able decide what the money goes for; there's a sort of put-upon whine in their tone. One writer even compared access to birth control to getting free automobiles and clothing - as if health care were some frivolous luxury. Actually, we all pay taxes. The whining about having to pay suggests a sense of unfairness, as if they are bearing all the burden.

Conservatives sure like to whine about everything all the time like a bunch of overgrown babies, but I really had to laugh at the recent letter from Al Eisner ("Maryland's proposed gas tax increase is a travesty," Oct. 17). I mean, c'mon, a measly 15-cent gas tax? Last time I checked at the pump, gas has fallen about 50 cents in the past few months. Adjusting for inflation, the price of gas is now cheaper than it was when I started driving 30 years ago. And look at the lousy condition of the roads.

Recently I've read several Letters to the Editor from the Savonarola Republicans sneering at access to contraceptives. Their attitude seems to be that they pay all the taxes and should be able decide what the money goes for; there's a sort of put-upon whine in their tone. One writer even compared access to birth control to getting free automobiles and clothing - as if health care were some frivolous luxury. Actually, we all pay taxes. The whining about having to pay suggests a sense of unfairness, as if they are bearing all the burden.

In response to the recent letter from William Smith ("Gas tax brings out whiners," Oct. 19), let me first state that I am one of those "freeloading" conservatives Mr. Smith complains about in his letter. My employer pays me twice a month, and each and every time I look at my pay stub, I have deductions for state and federal withholding so I must be a taxpaying "freeloader. " I trust I have your permission to use my car to drive on our roads, use police and fire services if I need them, and put my trash out on pick-up day. After all, Mr. Smith implies in his letter that conservatives don't pay taxes and "whine" about tax increases.