Feedback - In Defense of an Assassinated Character

Here's some of the feedback I've been getting... at least the stuff that's fit to print!

From: dont want to say
RE: How you're wrong about Mrs. T

My english not so good as you. Think you wrong of taiwanese mothers. and very rude. Want what best for children. Happy family. GOOD hudband. NO divorce.

Dear Don't Want to Say,
I do not think Taiwanese mothers are the only ones that want what is best for their children -- mothers the world over want that. The problem I have is that some mothers, Mrs. T for example, think they alone know what is best for their grown up children.

If Mrs T had really cared about her daughter, she would have gotten to know her daughter's boyfriend. Instead, she said many very rude and untrue things about him to her daughter, simply because he was not Taiwanese and she did not like that. That is wrong. It is also wrong to assume that Taiwanese don't get divorced and always have happy families.

In short, Mrs. T is a bigot and is more interested in following tradition than in seeing that her daughter is happily married.

->PT

From: Lawrence
RE: How you're wrong about Mrs. T

C'mon. Do you really think that a white man could be as good a husband as a Taiwanese? So he's learning a few words in Mandarin. Is he really going to be able to communicate with her? I think her mother is right to try and find a husband with good Taiwanese upbringing. It's not racist. It's just a part of Asian culture. She'll have someone to relate to.

Dear Lawrence,
I think you do my friend a disservice by suggesting that he's just learning a little pidgeon Mandarin to appease her. I've never known him to do things half way. As for understanding women, I don't think Taiwanese have the monopoly on that, and unless I'm mistaken, Taiwanese women are women, too, subject to the same understanding that women elsewhere are. Stop pretending that Taiwanese come from a different planet.

As for culture, that's not something genetic. It is something you learn. And as such, yes, a white man can be as good a husband. Maybe even moreso, because he also offers a different perspective on life. Not because he is white, but because he comes from a different culture. You have two eyes in order to see better. Seeing life from two perspectives offers more choices than seeing it from just one.

->PT

From: Happy Daughter
RE: How you're wrong about Mrs. T

A don't want to say if you are wrong or right. I just wanted to say that my mother was the same way. There was no way I was going to marry a white boy. She would sooner throw me out of the family. I almost broke up with my boyfriend but didn't. It was tough in the beginning when we got married. My mother didn't talk to me and all I heard was from my sisters. They said mother was making them miserable, saying they should not follow the example of the Bad Sister. When I got pregnant, mother didn't even come to the baby shower. But this was her first grandchild, and she was was feeling left out, I guess. My sisters were here all the time, and telling her about what she was missing out. Still, she was stubborn and would not come to visit. So my husband and I arrived at her place one day with the baby, in order for her to save face (she would not have to come to us.) Though she tried to hide it, we could all see she was beginning to come around. Things were better after that, and now I think we're almost normal. There are still some uneasy times. But as my husband says, that's always the case with in-laws, that's why there are so many in-law jokes. But I am glad I decided to follow my heart. It's the best decision I ever made. Sorry for your friend, he sounds like he would have been a great husband.

Dear Happy Daughter,
There's nothing I can say to that except thank you. And good luck to you.

->PT

Anything else to add? I invite you to write and enlighten me.