Silly Matchayen Answers

Q — I was pleased by this section you have opened in the magazine The Woman's Voice, and although I am a man I wanted to put this question, which matters to me a great deal; perhaps your counselor can help me in my situation.
I am a successful young man who meets most of the conditions a girl looks for in a man. I love a girl and wish to marry her, but I feel that her love for me has cooled of late, and I sense that her ardor and enthusiasm for the Palestinian cause have something to do with this coolness. We often argue and quarrel, then come back and make up. Can you suggest a solution to this situation for me — bearing in mind that my love for her grows day by day?
A. B., Ras Beirut

A — I think highly of your sweetheart's devotion to the Palestinian cause, and I discern in her a lofty patriotic spirit. I suggest you approach her through that same door, by redoubling your own patriotic zeal — for it may well be that your passive attitude is the cause of this coolness of hers toward you! Then, by a noble patriotic deed that will stir her admiration and her pride in you: donate a sum of money — or better still, donate a quantity of your blood through the Red Cross, if your health is good — and let her hear of the results of your deeds from others, not from you yourself. I believe her attitude toward you will change, if she is truly sincere.

Q — I have three children, the eldest a boy of six. What pains me most in raising and tending them is mealtime, when the eldest begins refusing his food and the two little ones promptly follow his example, and every meal ends with my sighing and shouting. Sometimes I force them to eat and threaten them with a beating until they eat. What is the trick, and what is the way to get them to eat without all this uproar?

A — It is natural for the two little ones to imitate their elder brother, and natural, too, for your children to refuse to eat whenever they see you attaching such great importance to these meals of theirs. Ignore the situation and pretend not to care; leave them without food if they have no desire for it or feign a lack of appetite. Be firm, and do not fear that your children will die for missing a single meal. But there is one thing you must see to yourself — do not allow them to take any sweets between meals; and when mealtime comes and they are in a state of hunger, they will without doubt eat what is set before them on the table.

Q — Is drinking coffee in the evening harmful, and does it really keep one from sleeping?
F. S., the American University of Beirut

A — Yes. The element caffeine is a stimulant that acts upon the nerves; but people differ in this. There are those on whom coffee in the evening has a strong effect, and those on whom it has no effect at all. We read lately that coffee's action at night can be killed by adding a few drops of water to the cup.

Q — Small pimples appear on my face; they increase and diminish with the weather, and multiply in early spring, causing me itching and flaking... I consulted some doctors, and one told me the cause is the change of weather. I used certain "creams," but they made the inflammation worse. What do you advise me?
Aley: signature withheld

A — The Woman's Voice's specialist physician advises you to attend before all else to your stomach... for the stomach must be in a perfectly normal state.
Pay close attention to what you eat... eat plenty of vegetables and fruit; do not use creams at all, and do not coat your face with powder and rouge... Best of all, consult a specialist in skin diseases, for there is a very effective treatment.