Speak Out 11/8/09

Don't look

PARENTS are making a mistake by allowing their children to watch as a needle is stuck in their bodies when getting shots. They should have them turn their heads. If they weren't watching, they would hardly feel the shot. I'm 80 years old, and my dad told me this back when I was small. Shots don't bother me and never have because of that.

Expensive trash

THANKS and congratulations to the Jackson aldermen for having enough sense not to spend $2.36 million on automated trash pickup. Our simple and efficient trash pickup is just fine. I'm sure we can include pickup of recyclable materials without spending $2.36 million. Cape Girardeau, get ready for a tax increase to pay off on those bonds.

Stop burning

I'M calling in regards to this time of the year when people burn their leaves. Many of us have allergies to these things. I live in Jackson. Why don't we have a no-burn ordinance? People should not be permitted to burn leaves. Please be courteous and ask your neighbors if they are allergic to burning leaves. Jackson needs to look at this problem.

Not common sense

RECYCLABLES are picked up in my part of Cape Girardeau on Fridays. I drove around the neighborhood last Friday and noticed that almost three out of four residences don't put out recyclables, and those that do usually have very little picked up. The city is spending almost $2.5 million on trucks and 64-gallon garbage containers. The 96-gallon recyclable bins won't even be used by most people. I can envision these big bins blowing around all over the city because a lot of people don't even have anyplace to keep them. Common sense didn't come into play when the city council made this decision.

Big containers

CAPE OKs funds for new trash system. Hooray. Just what I need. Two large trash cans to replace one small 30-gallon can. The 30-gallon can fits perfectly in my garage. What am I going to do with two extra-large cans, a 64-gallon container and a 96-gallon container? How do I get them up and down my driveway? Where will I store them? I am definitely not in favor of this.

Medicare for all

DAVID Limbaugh recently wrote that the motive of health care proponents is to pave the way for a single-payer universal health care system. Oh, how I wish it was. Medicare for all would be wonderful.

Lost tradition

I am saddened by the society that we are in. I had eight trick-or-treaters Halloween night. I live in the middle of Jackson. We had a fire going, spooky music and all the trimmings. Afterward I thought maybe people were scared of weirdos. I looked on the sex offender registry and saw that two of the four child molesters committed their crimes in 1980 and 1981 when I was allowed to go trick-or-treating. My point is there were idiots 30 years ago, and there are idiots now. Children go to community centers to trick-or-treat and are missing the tradition that goes with Halloween. Parents should take their Children and walk with them and enjoy this great tradition.