ABUSIVE WIFE CAN BE WORSE THAN WRESTLING ALLIGATORS.

Byline: ANN LANDERS 

Dear Ann Landers: I have been reading your stuff for at least 20 years. When I was in high school, I thought you were pretty square. The older I get, the better sense you make.

You have published letters over the years from wives and girlfriends who had been beaten up by their men, but I don't recall ever seeing a letter from a man who was beat up by a female.

I was married for seven years to a woman who used to be a lifeguard. After that, she went to work in a warehouse. To make extra money, she wrestled alligators.

"Connie" was a good sport and had a great sense of humor. Everything was fine until we got married. I didn't know she had such a hot temper. If I was 10 minutes late getting home, she would pop me one. I never hit her back because, to tell you the truth, I was afraid she might mop up the floor with me.

One night, we got into a fight about some bills she ran up. I shoved Connie (no hitting), and she beat me up so bad I had to go to the emergency room. (Broken nose, black eyes, two teeth missing.)

I was just about to file for divorce when she beat me to it. Guess what? She dumped me for a woman who is a piano mover.

I hope you print this letter, Ann. People need to know that mate violence is a two-way street, and sometimes the man gets the worst of it.

- Sarasota Witness

Dear Sarasota Witness: Here's your letter, which proves that violence has no gender. You've certainly made your point, and I thank you. P.S. I hope you don't go out with any more women who wrestle alligators.

Dear Ann Landers: Why are people so combative these days? I'm a pharmacist who is amazed at how loud and unpleasant customers can be, even though we are not at fault.

I have been called every name in the book after telling a patient that the doctor did not call in his or her prescription and I can't do anything until he does.

If people could see themselves yelling, they would be shocked at how uncivilized they appear to those who are trying to help them. I'm trained to deal with difficult customers, but my job would be so much easier if the public realized that we must work within specified guidelines prescribed by law.

So, please, Ann, ask your readers to be civil to their pharmacists. We are hard-working, educated professionals who do a lot more than count pills.

- "J," a Pharmacist in Missouri

Dear Missouri: Thanks for an informative letter that is sure to go up on the walls of pharmacies all over.