LETTERS: COMPETITION IS PART OF AMERICAN FREEDOM

To the editor:

When I was in business, we had a service station. You drove in to get a dollar's or two dollars' worth of gas of a fill-up. We checked the air in your tires. We washed your windows. We checked your oil and looked at your fan belt and air filter. I had a service station that kept you from having a large repair bill later on due to neglect from servicing your automobile.

Then came the guy who said he was going to put in a self-service gas station. The people would wait on themselves for a few pennies less and neglect their motors. The self-service gas station was a success, because people were greedy for the dollar. Little did they realize they were actually going to spend more later on because of the neglect of servicing their motors as they should be.

But the full-service station owners didn't complain because some guy wanted to start a business and make money without doing too much. This is what is called freedom. But it doesn't seem that some people understand what our forefathers set forth many years ago.

Some people who had a few dollars to play with put in gas stations and added a variety store. Then they put in a hamburger joint thinking they would make a lot of money. They put a lot of the other service stations out of business, but I never say any lawsuits.

This poor old boy said he would like to put a gas station between Cape and Jackson. He told the people he didn't want your credit cards or checks. Just get gas and pay cash, and the gas would be cheaper. He said he didn't want to run a variety store or hamburger joint.

When I was listening the other night to the debate of the GOP candidates, that is what Alan Keyes said America is all about: competition. And that will make America work. So if the poor old boy is selling below cost, more power to him. Why can't the other service stations realize they don't run the country. They should take care of their own businesses.

HAROLD REED

Leopold