Speak Out 3/27/06

Thanks for alert chain

I WOULD like to express my thanks to Bonnie Stevens for returning my Coumadin-alert gold chain and necklace. I had lost it for many years, and she found it. It seems like a miracle to me. Thank you again, Bonnie.

Photo and tax receipt

I'M CALLING about the proposal to require a photo ID to vote. I think you also should have a tax receipt before you can vote.

A man's room

AS A male who has been married for a long time, I'm proud to say I have my own room. It's generally referred to as the bedroom.

No to special room

I WOULDN'T let my husband have a room of his own. After eight years of marriage, he took up hunting and fishing. Now he owns a cabin at Kentucky Lake that I'm not invited to. I never see him. You're a smart woman, Mrs. Blackwell.

Books, not shrubs

HOW CAN a school spend thousands of dollars on shrubs when there are not enough textbooks for students? I am more concerned about the kids inside than I am the shrubs outside. The message I am getting is school officials care more for pretty than for smart. I want my tax dollars to go for the kids.

What men want

ONE OF the holes in Joe's downtown golf tournament should be in Sam's new room. We want to see what all men want and deserve.

Dashing all hope

I'M A single male with a girlfriend who's pressuring me to get married. The more I read Sam Blackwell and Bob Miller, the more I know I like the sound of single.

License efficiency

THE LAST time I went to the license bureau in Cape Girardeau, there was one person in front of me. I needed a license for a vehicle, and my driver's license had expired. I was there about five minutes getting both of those things taken care of. That seems pretty efficient to me.

Presidential record

WHO SAYS President Bush hasn't accomplished anything? He is fast closing in on no less than Thomas Jefferson in becoming the longest-sitting president never to veto a bill passed by Congress. Isn't that something?

Full-time students

ANY PARENT who allows a teenager to work more than 20 hours a week at a job plus carry a full course load in high school needs to have his head examined. Unless a family is in dire financial straits, there is no excuse for this parental neglect. Going to school and striving to do well is a teenager's full-time job. Teens must do well in school in order to be successful in the future. I challenge any of these parents to work 60-plus hours every week. That's what you're expecting of your teen. It's like holding down a full-time and a part-time job. Teenagers still need seven to eight hours of sleep a night to do well at any activity. This is probably why mononucleosis is so prevalent among teenagers. And whatever happened to allowing kids to be kids while they're young? The real world hits them in the face all too soon the way it is.

Military trust

ACCORDING TO an article in the March issue of Harper's, the U.S. spends as much money on defense as the rest of the world combined. Three-fourths of the American people trust the American military as opposed to 44 percent who trust the president and 22 percent who trust Congress. Seven days in May, anyone?

I'm ready ... almost

MARRIAGE IS a feminine institution designed to repress the natural instincts of the husband. I say it's time for us married men to take a stand. I will lead the way as soon as I'm finished doing the dishes and laundry.

Give it a chance

I KNOW it's a long way from the idealism of John Lennon, but all we are saying is give the county transit authority a chance.

Drug-free zones

REGARDING THE story on drug-free zones around schools that said "the laws hurt communities of color." What are the opponents of these laws really saying while crying discrimination? That the problem of illegal drug dealing is worse in minority neighborhoods, so the laws should be lightened up? In jumping on the discrimination bandwagon, they are implying that the people they are defending are more likely to be drug dealers. Oops.

Successful students

KUDOS TO the students working to get the things they want and need. This is not a recent trend. I'm nearly 50, and when I was in school I worked curb service at a restaurant, cleaned up after hours at a poultry processing plant and stocked shelves at a couple of retail stores. Some young people work, and others have things handed to them. For those headed to college, this is good experience. Unless they have wealthy parents or a full scholarship, students need to know this is what their college life will be like. These are the people who will succeed in life because of their toughness and determination.

Late for the bus

FOR THE second time in recent weeks I've been behind a Jackson school bus that stops and waits for kids to either come out of their house or for parents driving their kids to the bus to catch up and let their kids get on the bus. Today we sat for several minutes with traffic stopped in both directions while this went on. These kids, their parents and the bus drivers need to stop inconveniencing drivers who wait. The parents and kids need to learn the importance of getting to the bus stop on time.

Enjoy your youth

I FEEL for those students working full- or part-time jobs and going to school. I got off the bus and went straight to work until after midnight my senior year not because of needing a car, but to help put food on our family table. I slept on my one day off. I didn't graduate or apply myself at school because I was too tired and had no time for homework. I missed being a teen. I want my kids to enjoy this time in their life. Full-time work, outside of chores at home, comes fast enough. If they want cars, it will have to be from summer work or part-time jobs. You can't get these teen years back. I am going to get a GED, all because I lost that chance in school. Enjoy your youth. Take the nearly empty school buses. I know some kids don't have a choice. They have to help the family survive. But how many don't have to? I wish I had had a choice.

Sparking Hooterville

A RECENT comment included the following: "I don't want where I live to look like Hooterville." I'm horrified that someone's memory of Hooterville included trash alongside the road. Petticoat Junction was one of the cleanest spots on earth. Sam Drucker would never have tolerated littering anywhere around his store. Cleaning up litter is the one thing that would have gotten Uncle Joe up and moving. Don't judge everyone in Hooterville by the Douglas' house. Given time, I'm sure Ralph and Alph would have gotten everything into tip-top shape.

Men in orange

SOMEONE SAID, "It's not my job to pick up someone else's trash along the side of road." It may well be if you're like me and wear an orange jumpsuit.