Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-12-06
RICKER'S
MAIL
By DOROTHY KICKER

oy OOkOlnI kISkEk
Dear Mrs. Kicker:
l am a girl whose problem
is different. My I.Q. is Just
under genius and my par
ents are up there too. In all
the aptitude and vocation
al tests l have taken, I've
been in the top 2 per cent
Of my age group In the
country. I am Is and a jun
iOr In high school because
/ skipped a grade. My vOca-
bulary Is so large that peO-
pie think Pm showing off
when l speak, and I usual
" have to rewOrd things so
they can understand what I
mean.
Mrs. Kicker, I'm not do
ing it to impress them, it's
the way / talk at home. I
have also been blessed with
special talents in four diff
ferent fields - science, mu-
sic, drama and writing.
People treat me as II I were
some kind Of an oddly. I
have plenty Of friends but,
with few exceptions, they
act as If they are hOnored
when l speak to them.
l am discarding my
glasses for contact lenses so
l won't look so intelligent
but l don't think it will help
much. All I want Is for peO-
pie especially bOys) to
treat me like I'm a normal
girl who doesn't have any
brains-and / wish / didn't!
Please help me.
TOO SMART"
You are a very fortunate
girl to have the intellectual
gifts you describe. With prop
er use and development Of
your talents, you should have
a fine life and be able to con-
tribute much to those around
you.
However, the social adjust
ment difficulties you describe
indicate there is a loophole in
your thinking. You say, and
l believe you, that you have
superior intelligence. But you
seem to overlook the obvious
proof that your intelligence is
limited to certain fields. It
appears there are some fields
in which you are not smart
at all.
AS soon as you recognize
this point and resolve to cor
rect it, l believe, your social
problems will vanish. For ex-
ample, the mark Of a truly
well-educated person is the
ability to express himself
simply. No matter how many
eight-syllable words you know,
you should be able to express
yourself without using such
words in everyday social con-
facts. You don't have to act
stupid to be accepted and
popular, but don't flaunt your
superior knowledge. Instead,
use it to help yourself to bet
ter understand others and
their problems. Take a sin
cere interest in other people,
listen and learn what makes
them tick. When you know
this you will know how to
make friends with them. One
question: Where did you get
the idea the normal girls do
not have brains?
Dear Mrs. Kicker:
/ am 16. l dated Robbie
who is 16, too, a few times
last summer but l only like
him as a friend. Now that
our weekly school dances
have started / see him quite
often and he usually walks
me home. Recently he has
started telling me how much
he likes me and has limited
about going steady. / don't
feel that way about him al
though l admire and respect
him very much. The real
problem is, several of my
friends will get mad at me
If l hurt him because he is
very well liked. What should
/ do?
JANICE
1t is wrong to keep Robbie
dangling just to please your
friends. In fact, you should
not date any boy more than
once simply because friends
think you should. My advice is
to play fair and tell Robbie
the truth when you have the
right opportunity. In the mean
time / suggest you date other
boys occasionally so he will
realize he is not the number
one boy in your life. If your
friends" get angry with you