Bob Levey (Barbara Tyroler)

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Levey Live: Speaking Freely
Washington Post Columnist
Friday, May 17, 2002; 1 p.m. EDT

"Levey Live: Speaking Freely," hosted by Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, appears every Friday. It is a live, open-agenda discussion offering washingtonpost.com users around the world the opportunity to ask questions and discuss topics of their choice with Bob.

Fearless Bob takes your questions about virtually everything, from sports and politics (there's a difference?) to world events, Metro area traffic and issues raised in Bob's columns.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Bob Levey: Hi, click-persons. Hope you're all well. I'm happy to join you on this gorgeous friday. Especially happy since I REALLY NEED A BREAK FROM THIS NOVEL I'M HACKING! I'm sure you'll give me one. Let's get going....

Someplace, USA: Paper says you are away......

Is today's chat a technological marvel?

Bob Levey: No, I'm sitting at my customary desk at good old 15th Street. Of course, Bob Levey is ALWAYS a technological marvel. But today's LLSF is no more marvelous than usual. Same old keyboard, same old cup of joe, same old gray head.....

A Loyal Fan...: The Post just isn't the same without your column. It is definitely missed!

Please come back, Bob! (sniff - sniff)

Bob Levey: I shall!
But not until June 3!
Maybe I am insane to decide that I can hack an entire novel in three weeks. But I have done harder....
Progress report: I started on Monday. As of three minutes ago, I had written 60 pages. So we's on course.
Is it any good? Well, those who have peeked say yes.

Crystal City, Va.: Happy Friday Bob! Hope you're enjoying your vacation, wherever you are! It was good to meet you on the Metro the other week. How often do you have those Channel 8 telecasts? Have a great weekend!

Bob Levey: I do "News Talk" on NewsChannel8 three times a week. Thanks for the kind words

Anywhere, USA: Bob, I missed your chat last week, but caught up in the archives.

In response to the lost child thread you suggested parents advise children to look for a policeman. While in general this is good advice, these days it must come with a caveat. A recent study (sorry, I don't recall where) showed the #1 thing the "baddies" show kids now isn't candy -- it's a police badge. Rather chilling.

More recent advice encourages parents to tell their children to approach a woman, preferably one with children herself. While still not foolproof, it does tend to stir them towards more harmless people in general.

Just another input to this situation.

Bob Levey: I agree that a woman with kids would probably be a safe haven. But come on, is a bad guy really going to go to all the trouble of dressing up in a cop uniform? Can't he snatch a kid from a public place in jeans and a t-shirt?

Arlington, Va.: Howdy Bob! What novel are you reading?
I'm reading Gone for Good.. it's definitely a page turner!

Bob Levey: Anne Tyler's latest: Back When We Were Grownups. She has the GREATEST eye for offbeat characters. I just love her stuff. I highly recommend this one (although I'm only about 1/3 of the way through).

Bowie, Md.: Is your diet over?

If so, have you switched to a "maintenance diet" or gone back to pre-April eating habits?

Bob Levey: The diet is continuing, and so is the progress. I've now lost 14.5 pounds in just over 5 weeks. My pants are RIDICULOUS! If I didn't wear a belt, they'd literally start slipping down toward the floor.
I have decided not to write about it any more, however. I did 11 diet columns in one month. Enough is enough.
By the way, Bill Raspberry (always one of the great wits around here, and a neighbor of mine in that warren of offices known as Columnists' Row), has weighed in with two pearsl.
Pearl One: He says he'd be glad to join me on the diet, but he hates to disappoint the cognac industry.
Pearl Two: He has made me an offer for the suits that no longer fit me. It is uproariously skimpy. Just like me!

Alexandrington NOT Arlandria, Va.: Is there a 'City of Arlington' or is Arlington just an ordinary county? (Alexandria rules, Arlington drools!).

Bob Levey: Arlington is a county only

Washington, D.C.: Can the Metroids tell us if they have any plans to encourage people to take strollers on the elevators? I have the misfortune of living at Woodley Park (where, mind you, the elevators are usually working) and see several people each day taking their strollers up or down the escalators. This is not safe! Can they do something to discourage this?

Bob Levey: The law since Day One of Metro has been no strollers-on-escalators. As always, the issue is not whether Metro's heart is in the right place. It's how seriously they enforce the laws. Just take a look at how many people eat and drink aboard trains and you'll have your answer.
By the way, here's the latest report on "I'm-differentism." I was riding the Red Line this morning. A guy was sipping from a cardboard cup of coffee with one of those lids force-fitted on top of it. I pointed out that the rules say no coffee. "But this has a lid on it," said he. "It also has a slit through which coffee can spurt all over you and everyone else," said I. "(Unprintable) you," said he.
Was there a cop within eyeshot? You've got to be dreaming....

Castle Shannon, Pa.: Interesting piece in yesterday's Style section on Nancy Reagan coming back to Washington for the first time in five years. Ted Kennedy was given a standing ovation. I didn't realize that he and the Reagans were close friends.

Anyow, with that kind of reception from both the GOP and Dems, do you think that he might have his eyes on the 2002 presidential election, especially now that Bush seems to be in quite a mess?

Bob Levey: Teddy blew up his Presidential ambitions forever some 22 years ago. He could never hope to get the nomination even if he did want, I'd think. He's 70 years old, not in the greaest of health.

Confused about Arlington: Then how come there is an Arlington, VA postal address for many folks?

Bob Levey: Why can't a county be a postal address?

Columbia, Md.: A comment to those who were "bashing" the Lean Plate Club last week. What the group was saying was NOT that Bob was eating wrong, NOT that he was doing the wrong thing, NOT that his nutritionist wasn't top-notch.

What they WERE saying is that NO diet can be successful if you don't have the right attitude. And Bob ADMITTED he was resentful of the diet! Being resentful means the weight comes back on. I should know -- I've been dieting for 10 years and have FINALLY learned how to change my attitude. Not coincidentally, the weight's now coming off.

Bob Levey: My attitude hasn't been the problem. I've been incredibly focused on this from the first second. And that focus is paying off, big time! The problem (as I wrote) is that I'm grumpy a lot of the time. Do I let that torpedo me or my determination? Heck, no. I just take a deep breath and carry on.
by the way, the biggest test may come tonight. This is our 22nd wedding anniversary. We's heading out for a H.A. dinner. I haven't tasted alcohol, or candy, or a cookie, since April 7. I will be sorely tempted tonight.
Cue the organ music......
Will Bob give in?
SHOULD Bob give in?
Will Jane stick around for 22 more if he does--or if he doesn't?
These are the days of our lives........ (swell arpeggio.....)

Arlington, Va.: Mr. Levey: I do so love the mixture of people in this area, but I feel a little annoyed when I get my nails, hair, etc., done and nobody around me, including the person working with me, speaks English. Someone there usually does (gotta answer the phone)but I often feel like someone is talking about me right in front of me (a bilingual friend, who knew the language, had it happen to her--they were quite shocked when she responded in their language). My friend now says she'll ask the person dealing with her to either speak English or they won't get a tip. I have nothing against people speaking their familial or first language (my relatives sometimes do) but when you're paying for such a personal service, getting insulted--or the fear of it--shouldn't have to be a part of the deal. Is it reasonable to make such requests? I seem to have it happen only in the beauty salons, nowhere else.

Bob Levey: I'm really surprised by this (obviously, I don't spend enough time in beauty salons!). I often argue that there's no need for English to be the official language of the United States because it's impossible to function in the American marketplace without speaking it (and probably reading and writing it, too). I'd say it's rude of these employees not to speak English in your presence. They are leaving the impression that they are exchanging secrets--and not even taking the trouble to do it behind your back. Not good business. Not good human relations.

20036: Thoughts about Wednesday's story re: how it is illegal in the District for a married woman to give her child any name but her husband's?

Bob Levey: Nuttiness. Of course, Levey has written several columns about this over the centuries. Obvious how much good they've done

Seattle, Wash.: Dear Bob, I'm writing to you since you seem to be able to unearth answers to almost any question posed to you. So here's mine: Yesterday in the Style section of The Post, there was an article expounding on the Generation Xers. The birth dates of the Gen-Xers was noted as between 1964-1984. Now, the first date sounds right, but the second? 1984? That means that someone who's 18 years old is supposed to be dis-connected with the culture of today's kids? They ARE today's kids, Bob! I worked in advertising for a little while, and I know that the difference between Gen-X and Gen-Y plays a significant role in advertising and the media, for example, but no one seems to have a decent age range for these groups! There's also supposed to be a Gen-Z now, too. Can you help me on this one (or find help!). Since you're a dad to two Gen-something kids, I thought you'd have a personal take on this. Thanks, Bob!
Signed, Gen-Xer for real

Bob Levey: No personal take to share, but I do have this professional take:
Whoever thought up that bracket, whereby an 18-year-old is considered a freestanding adult, is a nincompoop.

Bethesda, Md.: Greetings Bob.

I am surprised and dismayed at the attention being paid the priest that committed suicide yesterday. He had been accused of improprieties with minors, but the Catholic Church continued to defend him, even as he killed himself -- supposedly a mortal sin. Then in Baltimore, the community there reportedly rallied around a priest whom prosecutors believed was guilty of the same the same thing. What about the victims, Bob? You rarely see people coming to their aid or offering them assistance. This whole scenario seems turned completely around to me.
Your thoughts?

Bob Levey: Our profession needs to do a very thorough, very slowyly-cooked piece about what has happened to the victims, not just of these high-profile priests, but any or all of them. Has being abused had a lasting effect on these people? Has it wrecked them sexually? Has it caused them to leave the church? This will be the toughest kind of journalism to bring off--getting these victims to talk, and talk honestly, will be a huge task. But think of the view that this would give of the problem from a key perspective. Thanks for a very solid point

Denver, Colo.: Visited D.C. last week and make extensive use of Metro, but was surprised Saturday morning as I was trying to get to National that the thing doesn't open until 8 a.m. on Saturday! Had I been the only traveler trying to get into the system I would agree that I am now being a bit cranky. But there were several other folks looking disappointedly at the locked gates. Seems to me the capital city should be able to get its subway system operating earlier on a Saturday morning! Any ideas?

Bob Levey: Sure. Get all 11 jurisdictions that support Metro to supply more dough. But they won't, and they haven't been seriously asked to do this, because all the market surveys say that an early start on Saturdays would be a loser.
By the way, Metro will take the opposite conclusion of market surveys and run with it. About two years ago, the agency perceived a demand for late-night service on Fridays and Saturdays. Presto, up it went. It's a smash! I was aboard a train a couple of Saturdays ago at about 1 a.m. and it was jammed!

15th and L: I think at one point the Post Office was flexible with postal addresses. I used to have a postal address of Ballston Lake, NY, which was not a town, city, county, etc., but was merely a lake. Somehow the Post Office deemed that sufficient enough to give it its own postal address.

Bob Levey: As long as a postal official can figure out what you're talking about, what difference does it make whether a jurisdiction is a city, a town, a county?
Isn't this what Zip Codes are supposed to handle?

Arlington, Va.: H.A. Bob! I say "go for it".. but don't go overboard! Enjoy yourself! Losing 11 lbs. ain't easy!
By the way, Back When we were Grown-Ups is a fabulous book!

Bob Levey: Amen all around! Thanks

Springfield, Va.: While watching ABC a reporter named Ann Colton (sp?) stated that on 9/11, when the President was informed of the second plane hitting the WTC, she "could tell from the look in his eyes" that he knew this was coming. I thought reporters were supposed to report facts, not try out for the psychic hotline while appearing on a news cast. How about some professional standards for journalists?

Bob Levey: I'd have to know much more about this, beginning with the exact context. But in general, I agree that reporters should report, and they should steer clear of all psychological guesswork.

Washington, D.C.: Can't believe I'm asking you this, but -- how do you tell if a child has a learning disability? Our oldest, a 10-year old, is a good reader and up till now (5th grade) has been a very good student. This year she's had a lot of homework, and it takes her hours to do it, with a lot of hands-on guidance from Mom and Dad. She has been forgetting assignments and tests and is having a much harder time than before, especially with organization and follow-through, not so much with concepts. Any ideas, Bob or readers? Thanks.

Bob Levey: Any good scholastic diagnostic center could test your child and hand down a verdict. Good luck

University Park, Md.: Happy anniversary!

Bob Levey: Thanks, U.P.
May I use the occasion to trumpet marriage in general?
It's the best.
It's like the centerboard on a skiff (can you tell that I've been hacking fiction?).
Without that centerboard, you lurch all over the bloddy place. With a spouse you can truly count on--and on whom you've truly counted--it all makes sense, it's all possible, each of us is immeasurably better individually because we're together collectively.
Of course marriage is never easy. Who said it was? My attitude: Realize that if the big stuff is right, the little stuff doesn't really matter. Miss Jane has such great values, and such a total commitment to what counts, that I'm willing to overlook the pint-sized things.
She's the best.

Washington, D.C.: According to yesterday’s Post, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum announced yesterday that it will publish 12 survivors' memoirs over the next three years. Why the unending stream of books about the Holocaust, which the same article acknowledges is about one a week? No one, including the Jews I know, obsesses over this topic. Enough already!

Bob Levey: Sorry, but if you read the newspaper, you know that it's never enough, because the same anti-Semitism could crop uip again at any moment, and already has, especially in Europe, where you'd think they might have learned their lesson. The biggest question of our time is how Naziism could have swelled into the tidal wave it became. I've read 25 books about it, and about the Third Reich. I'm still not sure. I still want to know more. How could it be a bad idea to hear more from the victims? Through them, there's a window on truth

Lunching at my DC desk: So how was your Breadline sandwich? I just finished a turkey with nothing from there, and it was delish--eat real food with real flavor and you can be satisfied with less of it.

Bob Levey: I ended up givign it away!
Too much Russian dressing had seeped into the turkey.
It would have boosted me past my calorie ceiling for that meal.
Hey, call me a spoilsport, but if you don't pay attention to EVERY calorie, you won't be able to offer Bill Raspberry your old suits!

Rosslyn, Va.: bob, did you see the morning paper? teenagers are dancing, bob, dancing!!! oh, lord have mercy!! they are offending our adult sensibilities!! pass the smelling salts!

Bob Levey: All I can add to this discussion is:
Hormones have raged through teenagers throughout time.
When I was one, our parents were worried about the lindy-hop and the twist, because (shudder!) WE SHOOK OUR PELVISES!
Same church, different pew.
And who says that every kid who does the bump-and-grind is going to have sex sometime during the next five seconds? Kids realize that dancing is dancing and sex is sex. The whole point about these dances is to SIMULATE sex, not to indulge in it. Do you really think kids don't realihat actual sex is dangerous? Believe me, they do. As I've said for the last 20 years, or ever since AIDS became a househodl word, today's kids will have less actual sex than their greatgrandparents did. Reason: They know that sex kills. And they know that tossing the hips on a dance floor doesn't cause AIDS, herpes or babies.

Re: Holocaust: To follow up on the original poster's point.

I'm not upset about hearing about tragedies when it's the effort to "know more about it so it doesn't happen again".

However, why is it always just anti-semitism? What about the Troubles in Northern Ireland? The atrocities in the Sudan? The suffering in Central America?

It just seems to be so prominent when there are so many other struggles that need to be addressed, too.

Bob Levey: Never said those struggles don't need to be addressed, too. But you have to admit that 6 million killed, and plunging the whole world into a huge war, hasn't been duplicated in Ireland, Sudan Central America, anywhere else.

Maryland: Good luck with your novel. I just finished a 300 page book, wrote 80 pages over 48 hours. When the words come, they come.

Bob Levey: Exactly. As I always say to schoolkids, there's no such thing as writer's block if you are determined that there shouldn't be.

Gaithersburg, Md.: Bob,

In another Internet forum, unrelated to the Post site, there's some jerk who's written a manuscript that he wants to send a certain Post columnist (not you). He keeps writing things like "Somebody here must know -John Doe-, could you forward a copy of this to him."

Is it usually possible to send written material to Post staff columnists, and if so what's the best way?

Bob Levey: Always possible to send anything to anyone here. If it's short (i.e., digestible in less than four minutes), go for e-mail. The code is last name-first initial@washpost.com.
Anything longer. try the good ole U.S. Postal Service. Our address is 1150 15th St NW, Washington, D.C., 20071.
DO NOT GET UPSET IF YOU DON'T GET A REPLY WITHIN A DAY! We are tremendously busy here. Soem of us get incredible amounts of "incoming." I average more than 1,000 e-mails a week, for instance. I can't read someone's first attem,pt at serious poetry if I have a column due. So I beg all of you to be understanding about this.

Bowie, Md.: With all due respect to good marriages, it is my opinion based on mine, friends and relatives experiences, that people uneasy about getting married shouldn't.

There's no bigger cause of divorce than people who shouldn't have gotten married in the first place. You were, shall we say, not real young (compared to the average groom) when you got hitched, and that's a good start.

Bob Levey: I'd say the biggest marriage-crusher is values. Spouses discover, a few years in, that they really don't share the same beliefs or care about the same things. Best medicine: TALK about the big stuff ahead of time. You'd be amazewd at how many couples don't. They think a nice smile, or a nice Saturday night in each other's arms, augurs a great future. It sure doesn't hurt. But it ain't the whole ball game. Miss Jane and I must have talked about how to raise children--and whether to have them--25 times before I slid onto bended knee. By the way, I didn't insist--and neither did she--that we be carbon copies of one another in political terms. We aren't. Nor should we be.

GEN-X, Washington, D.C.: As a disaffected GEN-X youth (you know some of us are approaching 40) with a house, car, job, and associated debts and responsibilities, I must protest that "kids" today care more about our world than we did. GEN-Xers are not, were not, have never been more or less "slackers" than the GEN-Y's or baby boomers. I think the "hippie generation" (you a hippie Bob?) gave my generation undue disrespect because of their problems with aging. Baby boomers were carefree in their younger days and eventually found responsibility. We have done the same.

Bob Levey: Fair point, well stated.
I was never a hippie, by the way. My hair did manage to grow EXTREMELY long during the early 1970s. But that didn't mean I toked up on weed or fantasized about Janis Joplin. I still wore ties and jackets then. Some of the ties you'd want to take out and burn! But they were still ties.....

Washington, D.C.: RE: "6 million killed"

Many more than that were killed Bob, if you count non-Jews; let's not forget them too.

Bob Levey: Didn't suggest that anyone should. Thanks for this reminder

Dupont, Washington, D.C.: Heck, Bob. Happy anniversary and all, but the 27-year-old single girl is about to cry. My skiff has no centerboard. I am destined to drift aimlessly?

Bob Levey: Heck, no. Centerboards drift up to the dock when you least expect it (have I tortured that expression enough for one day?). Be yourself. He's out there.

New York City: Bob, your astounding novel-writing production puts me to shame (never mind why). Do you attribute your ability to put out 60 pages in such a short time to the discipline acquired from being a columnist, a deadline writer, if you will?

BTW, I thought the books by Holocaust survivors looked fascinating. I wouldn't expect to find another Primo Levi in the stack, but certainly something I didn't know or understand.

Bob Levey: Yes, exactly right re my page-producing speed. Please remember that you are sitting down in cyberspace with a guy who has probably written more words than anyone you've ever met. I've done 17 inches a day, five days a week, for 21 years. I've hacked more than 5,300 columns. Then add to that my three books, my chats here on washingtonpost.com, all those thousands of radio commentaries, all those thousands of TV commentaries, all the high school graudtaion speeches..... hey, I'd BETTER know how to get words out of ym head, down my arms and onto the keys.

Parent: Robert, I thought you had children. In fact, I have read about them, so I know that you do. I have convinced my daughter that if she expects a boy to respect her, she can not "throw it around" like the junior whores on the videos. There are lines of propriety that every young person, male and femal, should be taught, and "freaking" crosses the line. If you think this sort of dancing doesn't involve sex, you are sadly mistaken. Boys, and I have a young son, want to know how far they can go. A woman with respect for herself lets him know that there is a limit. I've seen "freaking". Bud, there are no limits!

Bob Levey: Sex is sex. Rubbiong your hips against someone on a dance floor isn't sex. Maybe that seems too simple, but that's the truth. And kids know it's the truth.
Now, are you suggesting that freak dancing can LEAD to sex, out in the parking lot or in a car or back in someone's bedroom? Of course it can. But that sexual act could have ahppened without the freak dancing (and often has). Don't blame the dance. Blame those kids who can't separate right from wrong, safe from dangerous.

Bob with long hair: Man, what I wouldn't give to see a photo of that!

washingtonpost.com: You have NO IDEA how hilarious it is. -- Megan.

Bob Levey: I look like a guy who tried out for the Jefferson Airplane and got cut!

Washington, D.C.: Re: Sex and kids

Sure they realize it is dangerous, just like smoking, drinking until you puke, drinking and driving, etc. They do it because they still haven't figured out that they are not immortal. They don't believe bad stuff happens to them until it is too late.

Bob Levey: Happily, only some kids think they're immortal. Others develop the good judgment they'll need for life--and they develop it surprisingly early

To the 27-year old: While I agree with Bob that a good marriage is great (I'm so happy with my new husband that I could burst) there is nothing lonelier than being with the wrong person.

IMHO better to know yourself and be happy with who you are and where you are. Only then can you truly be part of a healthy couple (if that, is in fact, where life leads you). At 27 I couldn't imagine being married (too busy, life too full) and now at 30 I can't imagine being without the love of my life.

Bob Levey: Really well said. And thanks especially for the implied notion that you shouldn't be pressure by your age, or by some timetable foisted on you by society (or by a busybody aunt).
I was 34 when I married Jane. It was exactly the right moment in my life.

Re: 10-year-old with possible LD: I would also recommend a more-thorough-than-usual annual check-up. 10 is very late for a learning disability to show up, but maybe there is some other reason a physical could determine. Also, find out if something upsetting happened at school or with her friends.

Bob Levey: Very good thoughts. I pass them on for the benefit of the previous poster. Many thanks

Washington, D.C.: Another single 27-year old woman here - don't worry, some people have natural centerboards inside. Marriage is a fine thing - but it's not absolutely necessary for lifetime stability. For some people, it provides other benefits entirely...
If I ever get married, for example, I'm going to be the sail - dragging us into interesting places just because the wind was going that way.

Bob Levey: Like you, I know many, many people of various ages and sexes who are perfectly content to be single. The point is to listen to your heart at every stage of life. The key is to be able to change when the wind shifts and the centerboard clanks and you think: "Ya know, maybe he/she is the one to build around."
NO MORE CENTERBOARD METAPHORS!
I PROMISE!

Washington, D.C.: Happy Friday, Bob!
Is there pressure for columnists and reporters to publish at the Post, like professors at universities?

Happy anniversary, Bob. Enjoy your dinner and have 1 bite of Miss Jane's dessert.

Bob Levey: Many, many Posties publish books (and appear on radio, TV, at universities). But no, there's no pressure to do it. Nothing like publish-or-perish.

Detroit, Mich.: Hi Bob,

Love your column, even though I'm not from the DC area. I've just recently discovered the Live Online section and I was looking through some of your old chats and noticed some people talking about what to do with books they no longer wanted. Have you ever heard of BookCrossing.com? Members register books, then "release them into the wild" by leaving them somewhere people will be likely to find them or giving them away. I leave mine with a note explaining that this book is looking for a new home, asking people to visit the site and let me know what they thought of it, then to pass it along to someone else. As of today, there are 16 books listed as being in the wild in DC. Yes, lots of the books are never heard from again...but it's still lots of fun!

Bob Levey: Great idea! But let me ask: Does this work for Junior's old textbooks from the 11th grade, which Mama has just discovered in the garage and wants to get rid of? I get tjhis question by phone from readers a lot. Mama is always shocked that the local school doesn't want what she's offering. Explanation I always get is that no school will want just one textbook. They'd need 25 to cover an entire class. So Mama is often stuck,. Or she sells Junior's textbooks for a nickel on the dollar at some second-hand bookstore, and she feels unsatisfied. Do you know if this web site handles all sorts of boosk, and single copies?

Your anniversary: PLEASE cheat on your diet on this night of nights... even Marty Gallagher tells us to have a cheat day to keep the metabolism guessing... I'd be mad if my hubbie didn't eat rich yummy foods on our anniversary..
ps happy anniversary too.

Bob Levey: Well, maybe a little salad dressing....
Hey, my definition of sin has taken on new form in the last 5.5 ,weeks!

re: Bob's hair: Was it worse than Bernstein's ?

Bob Levey: Longer, thicker, already graying. Bernstein's was as brown as the day he came off the assembly line

Washington, D.C.: What's the law about playing music with headphones loud enough for others to hear?
Was on a train once, when a man sat down next to me, put on his headphones and turned them up to the point where I could hear his music quite clearly. I asked him to please turn it down. He said, "It's not against the law, is it?" I said, "No, I was asking as a matter of courtesy, not law." He shrugged, turned away and left the music blaring. I steamed for the rest of the ride - was there a law I could have used, since he was obviously not gentlemanly enough to be concerned with courtesy?

Bob Levey: This is really crazy, but the guy was right.
The law says only that youi must wear headphones.
It says nothing about how high you may or may not crank them.
Nuttiness.
When some of that junky music begins to spill out of some guy's headphones, I can hear it as clearly as he can. How is this not precisely what Metro wanted to avoid in the first place?

Arlington: Bob...where did you grow up? (I know I should probably know that.) I heard you on WTOP the other day doing a Children's Hospital commercial and I detected a touch of Tom "we'll leave the light on for ya" Bodette in your voice.

Bob Levey: You're off by at least 1,500 miles.
I was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx.
I don't think Tom Bodette has ever been outside South Dakota.

Atlanta, Ga.: I believe Arlington, VA is a city that "reports" directly to the State of Virginia and is not a county like Fairfax or Prince William - can you verify?

Bob Levey: Nope. It's a county, like any other in Virginia.

Mitchellville, Md.: RE:Fake police uniforms, Don't know if this is too late to enter, but in the book, "The Gift of Fear" or the other book about protecting our kids by Gavin DeBecker (?), the author makes the point that fake police uniforms are used by people who abduct kids, so your comment about how much trouble would some one go to is off base. Perhaps some of the thrill that a psychopath gets is from the whole staging/pretend.

Bob Levey: Others posters have touted this book on other shows. I say again: How likely is this? I'm not saying it's impossible. But is it a reason to teach your kid to hate and fear every guy in a police unbiform?

Alexandria: Hey 27 year old woman! Take it from this 52 year old woman - life can still be worth living whether or not "Mr. Centerboard" floats up to the dock. I'm all for marriage, am happily in one, but life was interesting and fun before he came along too. Make your own life fun, let "centerboards" fall, umm, drift, where they may.

Bob Levey: Thanks, Madame 52.

MetroCenter: Hi Bob - Congrats on the diet and book!

For the person who is paranoid that her hair stylist or manicurist is talking about her when not using English in conversations with colleagues, you may be right, but who cares? So maybe they are talking about you. Maybe they are calling you an ugly cow. But you can't understand them, so why worry about it? Just enjoy the salon time.

Besides, guess what? Your friends may call you an ugly cow too -- in English -- just behind your back.

Bob Levey: Sorry, I'm not buying.
This is a place of business.
It serves the public.
Isn't the idea to make a customer feel comfortable and welcome?

re: BookCrossing.com: Hi Bob,

Yes, any kind of book will do. I have seen all sorts on the site. The idea is you leave it where someone will find it and pick it up. People have had lots of luck with airports, doctor's office waiting rooms, buses, malls, etc.

Bob Levey: Thanks for this additional info

Washington, D.C.: Bob, a woman on a Metro escalator yesterday threw her lit cigarette down right on the escalator. I told her that number one, it was illegal to smoke on the escalator; and that it was also dangerous. (I'm a smoker by the way).

Could this have actually caused a fire?

Bob Levey: Whenever I look closely at those Metro escalators, I notice that they've been lubricated with various oils and fluids. I'm no expert, but I'd hate to think what might happen when a little motor oil meets a cigarette, or vice versa.
Broken Record Dept.: If someone never brings a cigarette onto Metro property, this issue never comes up. Why can't Metro place signs at the mouths of escalators, warning about somking, drinking and eating? The way the system is now set up, it's up to one harassed and often distratced kiosk attendant to watch every single customer, and prevent trouble. Not humanly possible.

Bob Levey: Back to the world of fiction-hacking, gang. Thanks for a great discussion. We'll do it again next Friday--again at 1 p.m. Eastern time.

washingtonpost.com:

That wraps up today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the discussion.

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