
Como haciendo homenaje a la película Señales, de Shyamalan, quisiera presentarles a mi gatito emo, medroso y paranoico, R. Lo rescatamos, muy pequeñito, de un edificio donde lo estaban corriendo a escobazos. Ya tiene cuatro años con nosotros, pero hace apenas dos que descubrió las ventajas de ser mascota mimada. Y hace cinco o seis meses aprendió a jugar. Todavía tiene problemas nocturnos (cada vez menos) para usar la cajita de arena y le tiene miedo a las visitas. Pero siempre desea estar junto a nosotros. Nunca ha intentado escapar. Ésta es su casa. Lo queremos y nos quiere.
Me quedé lo suficientemente preocupada (y algo molesta) por las posibles interpretaciones múltiples (léase ambigüedad) de mi entrada anterior, Caso perdido/ganado, como para apresurarme a poner una especie de continuación. Será algo fuera de programa y voy a realizar algunas acciones que no acostumbro. Por ejemplo, va a parecer que esta entrada en particular estará dirigida sólo a quienes hablan inglés; no me gusta nada, nada, poner textos en otra lengua ya que me había propuesto traducir todo lo necesario al español. De antemano les pido disculpas porque esta vez estoy cansada, bastante harta y con trabajo pendiente. Y porque uno de los textos es mío. Y algo que detesto con ganas es traducirme a mí misma.
Bueno, si han llegado por esta página, para leer en español la entrada donde expuse mis puntos de vista sobre un caso de un artículo en la revista Ladies' Home Journal, hagan click aquí.
A continuación, presentemos los documentos en inglés.
Tuve que imitar el procedimiento de Thor (Suena la palabra) y escanear las páginas de la revista que contienen el artículo. No lo hice tan cuidadosamente como le queda a él, y los archivos están muy grandes porque quise asegurarme de que fueran cómodos de leer. Están almacenados en imageshack, y no es necesario descargarlos, y pueden aumentar su tamaño. Perdón por lo mal hecho y las prisas.
Bueno, si han llegado por esta página, para leer en español la entrada donde expuse mis puntos de vista sobre un caso de un artículo en la revista Ladies' Home Journal, hagan click aquí.
A continuación, presentemos los documentos en inglés.
Tuve que imitar el procedimiento de Thor (Suena la palabra) y escanear las páginas de la revista que contienen el artículo. No lo hice tan cuidadosamente como le queda a él, y los archivos están muy grandes porque quise asegurarme de que fueran cómodos de leer. Están almacenados en imageshack, y no es necesario descargarlos, y pueden aumentar su tamaño. Perdón por lo mal hecho y las prisas.
Ligas para leer en línea el artículo "Otto, the Wonder Dog":
A continuación, la carta que una servidora le envió a Sally Lee, la editora en jefe de Ladies' Home Journal:
Dear Sally,
You’ve probably have already received a lot of mail of this sort, but well, I wanted to add another opinion from a reader outside the U.S.
I bought what seemed to be the second issue of Ladies’ Home Journal (the first one probably did not come to Mexico) and I liked it very much... I thought it was a nice magazine, both interesting and useful, not the frivolous kind ladies’ magazines usually are, and good for helping me practice my English; and low priced besides.
Well, I have decided now not to buy your magazine anymore, and I would like to let you know why.
In the May issue (the last one that has come to Mexico) you published this article called “Otto the Wonder Dog” by Michelle Slatalla. A lover of animals as I am, and expecting something of the same sort of the pet stories published in LHJ website, I started reading... and went from plain disappointed to truly horrified. Mrs. Slatalla obviously has no idea on how to deal with an animal problem, other than just walk away or let someone else take care of it. Her poor cat’s peeing problem could have been easily solved by using a product with pheromones or catnip or something like that (I keep cats, usually strays that I help to find new homes, and I know that works). Now, you can’t blame people (not too much, at least) for being ignorant. But Mrs. Slatalla’s delight when her naughty dog ACCIDENTALLY chased her cat off is just unforgivable. I feel sorry for the cat, and, to be honest, also for the daughters of this lady. Hope none of them messes with mommy’s shoes, or she’d probably end up in the streets.
What I fail to understand is, why did you decide to publish this? What point were you trying to make? There are enough people in this world that do this kind of things, abandon animals in the streets, neglecting pets... not that I’m trying to forget about it, but your magazine seemed to condone this by publishing this article. And it was supposed to be fun! Seriously, I don’t know what were you thinking.
My English is too poor to express all of my indignation and I’ve tried not to be impolite; I’ve hope I’ve succeeded; I apologize if I have not.
Please excuse any English mistakes.
Yours,
MI NOMBRE
Mexico
La respuesta en mi buzón de entrada. Nada mal:
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your letter about our May Animal Affairs story, “Otto The Wonder Dog.” This story was a first-person account from a freelance writer about her family and their personal experiences with their pets. Ladies’ Home Journal has long championed the work of animal welfare advocates and we in no way condone pet abandonment. We sincerely apologize if this story offended you, and promise to be more thoughtful in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us to share your feelings about this piece. We greatly value the feedback we get from our readers, and we’re confident you’ll be pleased with our next installment of the Animal Affairs column.
Sincerely,
Sally Lee
Y la que una moderadora de los foros puso en línea. Comparen.
Thanks for your concern. This story was a first-person account from a freelance writer about her family and their personal experiences with their pets. Ladies' Home Journal has long championed the work of animal welfare advocates and we in no way condone pet abandonment. We sincerely apologize if this story offended you, and promise to be more thoughtful in the future.
Posiblemente este mismo párrafo apareció en los correos de todas las lectoras que mandaron comentarios. No que ello me desanime; significa que hubo suficientes respuestas como para que se ameritara elaborar un "machote" de carta.
Esto es lo que una de las lectoras sugirió que debieron haber escrito:
We here at LHJ sincerely would like to apologize for the article that caused such concern, we understand now that it was in poor taste and wasn't well thought out. We are sorry that we offended so many of our readers, and promise to do better in the future. Furthermore, we will pass on your concerns to the author.
Probablemente sí se nos cumpla la solicitud de una disculpa impresa. Y un artículo sobre el cuidado de los animales problemáticos, otra petición reciente. Y todo estará bien. No sé todavía si la Ladies' Home Journal me recupere como lectora. Pero si hacen algo realmente bueno en su columna de Animal Affairs, tal vez me la piense y todos felices.
Espero que los documentos que puse aquí hayan sido de su interés; me siento mucho mejor poniéndolos en sus manos. Juzguen... ups, es decir.. considérenlos objetivamente por ustedes mismos. Más adelante tal vez hasta me anime a compartir algo sobre mis nada políticamente correctas ideas sobre sexo, matrimonio y mortaja. ¡Y a ver qué sale!
A continuación, la carta que una servidora le envió a Sally Lee, la editora en jefe de Ladies' Home Journal:
Dear Sally,
You’ve probably have already received a lot of mail of this sort, but well, I wanted to add another opinion from a reader outside the U.S.
I bought what seemed to be the second issue of Ladies’ Home Journal (the first one probably did not come to Mexico) and I liked it very much... I thought it was a nice magazine, both interesting and useful, not the frivolous kind ladies’ magazines usually are, and good for helping me practice my English; and low priced besides.
Well, I have decided now not to buy your magazine anymore, and I would like to let you know why.
In the May issue (the last one that has come to Mexico) you published this article called “Otto the Wonder Dog” by Michelle Slatalla. A lover of animals as I am, and expecting something of the same sort of the pet stories published in LHJ website, I started reading... and went from plain disappointed to truly horrified. Mrs. Slatalla obviously has no idea on how to deal with an animal problem, other than just walk away or let someone else take care of it. Her poor cat’s peeing problem could have been easily solved by using a product with pheromones or catnip or something like that (I keep cats, usually strays that I help to find new homes, and I know that works). Now, you can’t blame people (not too much, at least) for being ignorant. But Mrs. Slatalla’s delight when her naughty dog ACCIDENTALLY chased her cat off is just unforgivable. I feel sorry for the cat, and, to be honest, also for the daughters of this lady. Hope none of them messes with mommy’s shoes, or she’d probably end up in the streets.
What I fail to understand is, why did you decide to publish this? What point were you trying to make? There are enough people in this world that do this kind of things, abandon animals in the streets, neglecting pets... not that I’m trying to forget about it, but your magazine seemed to condone this by publishing this article. And it was supposed to be fun! Seriously, I don’t know what were you thinking.
My English is too poor to express all of my indignation and I’ve tried not to be impolite; I’ve hope I’ve succeeded; I apologize if I have not.
Please excuse any English mistakes.
Yours,
MI NOMBRE
Mexico
La respuesta en mi buzón de entrada. Nada mal:
Dear Laura,
Thank you for your letter about our May Animal Affairs story, “Otto The Wonder Dog.” This story was a first-person account from a freelance writer about her family and their personal experiences with their pets. Ladies’ Home Journal has long championed the work of animal welfare advocates and we in no way condone pet abandonment. We sincerely apologize if this story offended you, and promise to be more thoughtful in the future.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us to share your feelings about this piece. We greatly value the feedback we get from our readers, and we’re confident you’ll be pleased with our next installment of the Animal Affairs column.
Sincerely,
Sally Lee
Y la que una moderadora de los foros puso en línea. Comparen.
Thanks for your concern. This story was a first-person account from a freelance writer about her family and their personal experiences with their pets. Ladies' Home Journal has long championed the work of animal welfare advocates and we in no way condone pet abandonment. We sincerely apologize if this story offended you, and promise to be more thoughtful in the future.
Posiblemente este mismo párrafo apareció en los correos de todas las lectoras que mandaron comentarios. No que ello me desanime; significa que hubo suficientes respuestas como para que se ameritara elaborar un "machote" de carta.
Esto es lo que una de las lectoras sugirió que debieron haber escrito:
We here at LHJ sincerely would like to apologize for the article that caused such concern, we understand now that it was in poor taste and wasn't well thought out. We are sorry that we offended so many of our readers, and promise to do better in the future. Furthermore, we will pass on your concerns to the author.
Probablemente sí se nos cumpla la solicitud de una disculpa impresa. Y un artículo sobre el cuidado de los animales problemáticos, otra petición reciente. Y todo estará bien. No sé todavía si la Ladies' Home Journal me recupere como lectora. Pero si hacen algo realmente bueno en su columna de Animal Affairs, tal vez me la piense y todos felices.
Espero que los documentos que puse aquí hayan sido de su interés; me siento mucho mejor poniéndolos en sus manos. Juzguen... ups, es decir.. considérenlos objetivamente por ustedes mismos. Más adelante tal vez hasta me anime a compartir algo sobre mis nada políticamente correctas ideas sobre sexo, matrimonio y mortaja. ¡Y a ver qué sale!