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Vitamin D quandary

Dear Annie: Lately, I’ve been reading that people aren’t getting enough vitamin D. But I also hear that people should wear sunscreen more regularly. Doesn’t wearing sunscreen limit the amount of vitamin D absorbed by your skin? How can we get more vitamin D while still wearing sunscreen every day? I hear that supplements are never as good as naturally occurring vitamins (in food, from the sun, etc.). I don’t want vitamin D deficiency! — Disconcerted About Vitamin D Dear Disconcerted: Vitamin D is indeed important. It’s one component of good bone health, as it helps our ...

Scent-sitive

Dear Annie: I work in the service department office at a car dealership. I have asthma and find that most of the time, the ventilation system in the mechanics’ area is enough to keep fumes from being a problem. But there are several customers who wear a great deal of perfume or cologne, and it is very hard for me to wait on them because I have asthma. One man is so marinated in cologne that even if my co-worker assists him, it still bothers me, as the entire office is permeated with the stuff. Today I coughed for a couple of hours after he left and ended up with a nosebleed and ...

‘I wrote the book on black fatherhood’

I wrote the book on black fatherhood. Literally. “Becoming Dad: Black Men and the Journey to Fatherhood” was a deep dive into the absence and uninvolvement of African-American fathers in the lives of their children. Like many observers, I inferred that absence and uninvolvement from statistics showing a decline in marriage among African Americans so that the average black baby was now born to an unwed couple. For years, I’ve used that book as a defense when white people taunted me that the dysfunction so often afflicting black kids has nothing to do with racism and everything ...

Socializing a skittish dog

Dear Annie: My new rescue dog is rather skittish. I think it’s because he went through some awful things in his early life. From what I hear, he lived in disgusting conditions and in tight cages, getting shipped around from place to place. In my experience with him, this translates to his being nervous around most strangers and even growling at some of them. I think it’s his way of pretending to be tough and scary. I can’t see him actually hurting anyone. But obviously, I want to help my dog feel comfortable and safe around me, and I don’t want him to scare people. What can I do ...

Vaccine skeptics under siege

Watch out. Capitol Hill and Silicon Valley have locked their sights on the next targets of a frightening free speech-squelching purge: independent citizens who dare to raise questions online about the safety and efficacy of vaccines. I’m vaccinated. My children are up to date. There’s no dispute that vaccines have saved untold lives. But over the years, I’ve voiced my concerns about vaccine claims and government coercion in my newspaper columns and blog posts. These concerns include my objections to Gardasil mandates for schoolchildren in Texas and California; schools’ ...

When hygiene goes by the wayside

Dear Annie: I am a member of a small Midwestern church and in the choir. There are about 10 of us, and we all have a good time together. The problem is the organist and choir director, who has held these positions for nearly 50 years. As she is getting older, she is neglecting to either shower or change her clothes, which I can often smell in our small practice room. She also is losing her hearing and doesn’t hear us when we ask questions about the music during practice. Thus, she drowns us out when playing on Sunday or when made angry. I believe that our pastor is afraid to say ...