European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Life is often a Battle for military wives undo same a brides the world of military wives by Betty Alt and Bonnie Stone Walker and co., 225 pp., $19.95 Mike Genalo when a woman marries a military Man she contracts to a marriage in which the abnormal is accepted As the  that statement sums up the thrust of a new Book by two wives of military career men. The two Betty Alt the wife of an air Force colonel and Bonnie Stone whose husband is a retired Navy chief Petty officer spent three years collaborating on the Book "1 had advertised trying to Contact other women interested in the american association of University women and Betty responded a Slone said. A we were stationed in Hawaii at that time and living on the Economy or we might never have come in Contact with each other. A finding out that we both enjoyed walking for exercise we started to take Long hikes together and during our conversations the idea for a Book about women s role As military spouses came  the la it of started out As a history of the wife a role in the military from the Early Frontier Days. But in the course of interviewing some 1,000 other military women they realized that there was another More important Story taking place at the very moment. Betty Alt a a pattern began to develop Quot Alt said. A Many of the women would Point out the problem areas they were experiencing and we started to see another Angle for a Story. A Many men Reading the Book would describe it As a Book of complaints. But to the women it is just a matter of stating How they feel about the situation in a military  written warts and All the authors bluntly portray the life of the military spouse Complete with All its shortcomings. A when a woman marries a military Man she moves into his world and is pressured to conform and perform As a a Good military wife a they write. She must observe the military pecking order learn her role As a Volunteer and realize that her behaviour and Demeanour Are As important to her husbands advancement As his Are. A there is perhaps no other social institution in which an employer is As involved in the personal lives of his employees As in the military a the authors say. Or As Lynda a commanding officers wife expresses it in the Book a i think we put up with Bonnie Stone More As Navy wives than we would married to a Man who worked for the Telephone company All of his life. More is asked of me than i would be giving As the wife of a  the authors Are equally Quick to Point out that the military marriage is unique. Both partners have to be Able to Cope with a less than Normal lifestyle and work together to overcome the difficulties. If they do the marriage can work. The books title May be a Uncle same a brides a but it does not address the difficulties of Only women. The writers say that while the number of male spouses is Small a a dependent husbands face Many of the same problems. All has a masters degree in history and is a part time sociology instructor at the University of Colorado. Stone has a background in free Lance writing and is currently writing a Book on rearing her son who was bom deaf. And Between them they have 45 years experience As military spouses. They know what they Are talking about. Mike Genalo is a reporter in stars and stripes new York Bureau. The Book will be sold in stars and stripes  language is full of tricks Richard Lederer second of two parts English is a crazy language. We English users Are constantly standing meaning on its head. Look at these familiar English words and phrases that turn out to mean the opposite old or something very different from a what they seem to mean a a non Slop flight. Never get on one of these. You la never get Down. A a near miss. A near miss is in reality a collision. A close Call is actually a near hit. A my idea fell Between the cracks. If something fell Between the cracks did no to it land smack on the planks or the Concrete  that lie a my idea fell into the cracks or Between the boards ? a a hot water Heater. Who heats hot water a a hot cup of Coffee. Here again the English language gets us in hot water. Who cares if the cup is hot a prep an pre Board preheat and pre record. Arentt people who do such things simply planning boarding heating and recording the prefix is pretentious. A put on your shoes and socks. This is an exceedingly difficult Man Euver. Most of us put on our socks first then our shoes. A a hit and run play. If you know your baseball you know that the sequence constitutes a run and hit  amp writing a the bus goes Back and Forth Between the terminal and the Airport. No you have to go Forth before you can go Back. A a one night stand. So who a standing we speakers and writers of English seem to have our Heads screwed on backward we constantly Misc receive our bodies. Watch your head i keep seeing this sign on Low doorways but i Haven to figured out How to follow the instructions. Trying to watch your head is like trying to bite your Teeth. They re head Over heels in love. That a Nice but we do almost everything head Over heels. If truth be told All languages arc a Little crazy. As Walt Whitman might proclaim they contradict themselves. That a because language is invented not discovered by boys and girls and men and women not computers. As such language reflects the creative and fearful asymmetry of the human race which of course Isnit really a race at All. That a Why six seven eight and nine change to sixty seventy eighty and ninety but two three four and five do not become Woty three to fourty and Finety. That a Why first degree murder is More serious that third degree murder but a third degree bum is More serious than a first degree Burn. That a Why we Wear a pair of pants but except on very cold Days not a pair of shirts. Why is it that a Man with hair on his head has More hair than a Man with hairs on his head that if you decide to be bad forever you choose to be bad for Good and that if you choose to Wear Only your left shoe then your left one is right and your right one is left you have to Marvel at the unique lunacy of the English language in which your House can simultaneously bum up and bum Down in which you fill out a form by filling in a form in which you add up a column of figures by adding them Down and in which you first chop a tree Down a and then you chop it up. A Nash by new Day ,rort1 r Chard Ledare a Book Quot crazy