Speak Out 10/27/07

A teacher's limits

I AM a teacher and proud to be a teacher. However, I am also a wife, mother, coach and person. I get sick, and my children get sick. I make sacrifices every day with my own children, pushing involvement from the parents of my students when I am limited in the amount of involvement I can have in my own child's life. This is a choice I made when I made the decision to teach, but please do not condemn me for wanting to take care of my own.

Thanks for pool

I WANT to thank the city workers who plowed up my yard while picking up my tree limbs and leaves. Now all I have to do is pour concrete into the biggest hole and I'll have the swimming pool I've always wanted.

Guardian angel

A BIG thank you to our guardian angel at the Jackson Wal-Mart Saturday night. This kind, young man was waiting on us to tell us we had a flat tire and then told us he was going to change it for us. What a blessing he was for us senior citizens. While he changed it, his wonderful wife and son sat in the car and waited. Just wanted to let people know we certainly appreciated this nice, young family in Jackson. He was truly our guardian angel.

Population data

I HAVE heard that the United States is overpopulated. The population of the U.S. is about 312 million. China has a population of about 1.4 billion. China's land area is slightly larger than the U.S. The gross national product of the U.S. is approximately $2.4 trillion per year. China has probably $1 trillion to spend. Why can't the richest country in the world help more of those who are in desperate need? If the population needs to be controlled, why can't government have a domestic policy to reward families with fewer or no children and at the same time not punish those who feel they need a larger family?

Holes in the yard

THE CITY workers didn't get all the limbs I have stacked at the curb. They just left huge holes in the yard where the heavy machinery sank in. When my neighbor called the city, he was told it couldn't have been city workers doing this. But I was standing at my mailbox watching them as they made wide ruts in my yard.

Paying for health care

IF STATE and local governments keep banning smoking in restaurants and other public places, where are the Democrats and U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson going to get all the money to pay for health care for children?

Home control

GUNS ARE, for the most part, a nonissue in the home when having friends over. I've raised three children, and guns were not my biggest problem with raising children. Falling outdoors might have been a bigger problem, or walking around the neighborhood when someone has a dog that's not on the leash and it bites a child -- that was a problem once. But never guns. We always kept rifles and shotguns on the floor of our closet. Our children were raised never to touch them. When they had guests over, it was never a thought of my children to touch a gun. We kept the ammunition in a separate place. Handguns may be a concern. We never had a handgun. We don't even keep alcohol in our home. Our children never drank.

Not enough parking

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI State University has done it again. It built a multimillion-dollar facility without enough parking spaces. Does that sound familiar? The university can't provide parking for students, and now it can't provide parking for patrons at the River Campus. How sad.

Food is big help

I'M A senior citizen on a fixed income. I am not a member of Christ Church of the Heartland, but I want to have my say. I get the Angel Food Ministries groceries for my husband and myself. Before I started getting it, we were having some problems at the end of the month. By the time I paid the bills each month, I didn't have much money left for groceries. Then I found out about Angel Food. The meat lasts us all month. The other foods are a big help too. I don't have the problems that I had. Someone said we should get the food free. Angel Food Ministries is nationwide. If it gave the food for free, where would it get the money? I don't understand why the church is having all this trouble when it is doing what the Lord has told us to do: feed the poor and take care of the widows.

Church work

LET'S LEAVE the churches alone to do the good they're trying to do to help people regardless of what they are. They're not hurting anybody. Let God do his work.

Zoning thanks

MANY THANKS to Aldermen Cunningham and Reiminger for helping to protect the Revival Center from being rezoned to single-family residential.

Take care of people

WITH ALL the government spending going to the moon and fighting the war in Iraq, we could help people in California with the fires. We're spending all our money, but not on our people. The government is blowing our money. Let's take care of our people first.

Beyond control

I'M TIRED of hearing about the wildfires. I can't do anything about it. This is something between the people in California and nature. They chose to live there, and the powers that be have chosen not to establish fire lanes to control how much the fires spread. If they aren't willing to do that, there's not anything that anybody else can do about it. No human being controls the winds.

Unprofessional conduct

I THINK it was unprofessional for Cape Girardeau County Commissioner Larry Bock to use vulgarity during an open session addressing Commissioner Jay Purcell's viewpoint. I agree with Purcell that the county commission violated the Missouri Open Meeting Law regarding the hiring of additional help for the county highway department.

Showing disrespect

IN THE comic strip "Sally Forth," I do not like the way the mother is being treated. Sally invited her mother to her home. If you invite someone to your home, you shouldn't kick her out. In this case mothers are like husbands, for better or worse, after a while. Comic strips would be best sticking to the comic part rather than tackling heavy subjects, especially when it's disrespectful of mothers. We have Mother's Day for a reason. They brought you into this world.