LETTERS; CONVENTIONAL HOMES CAN BE TRASHY AS WELL

To the editor:

Your otherwise fine newspaper was marred by Monday's front-page story "Talking trailer trash." Your story needlessly hurt a lot of feelings and propagated a prejudice many Americans have toward less fortunate people. Missouritrailertrash.com is a tasteless, insensitive and offensive Web site, and your front-page coverage of it was inappropriate.

The founder of the Web site that ridicules trashy trailers says his site is not a malicious jab at folks living in mobile homes. Better get him some sensitivity training. Sure, there are slum mobile homes, but there are also slum conventional homes. Your readers should be aware that there are millionaires living in postcard-perfect mobile home communities in Arizona, Florida and right here in Missouri.

Many of us living in conventional homes learned at an early age that making a monthly payment on a mobile home yields two things that a renter will never have: equity and a credit history.

If an elite snob puts up an unkind Web site that embarrasses the unfortunate folks who live in the trashy conventional homes of Cape Girardeau, will it get it front page coverage?

STEVE ROBERTSON

Cape Girardeau