Opinion

Dear Annie: I am not optimistic about the plastic pollution of our planet. I remember a time when plastic did not exist and we managed OK with glass, tin cans, foil, paper, cardboard (waxed for dairy) and something called cellophane. Now everything comes in plastic. Even cans have plastic labels, and glass bottles have plastic caps.

I'm a very concerned mother of a 30- year-old son, "Jesse," who's in an abusive relationship with his girlfriend "Adriana." They share a newborn child together. Adriana is divorced. Not long ago, her ex-brotherin-law physically attacked Jesse, because Jesse exposed the secret affair that Adriana and her former brother-in-law had been having. I'm convinced that she is a narcissist. She has caused so much unnecessary grief, having Jesse arrested under false pretenses, manipulating the law to fit her sick, twisted selfishness and greed.

I've seen lots of parents (or babysitters) gabbing on the phone as they push strollers or baby carriages. The tots are getting no attention. Once, I saw a large dog, unleashed and apparently unaccompanied, dash up to a youngster in a stroller. Happily, the dog meant no ill and simply gave the child a big, slobbery kiss. And the stroller's pusher? She missed the entire incident.