Speak Out 5/19/06

Cancer survivors

YOU MISSED it. Are you a supporter of cancer survivors? Well, you missed a great time. I suggest you show your compassion next year at the cancer auction. There were good bargains, lot of fun, silent auction, oral auction, help and support. Make an evening of fun and friendship. Socialize with some of the survivors and families. There is no cover charge to attend. Come out and have an enjoyable evening. Show them you care. Who knows, you or a family member could be the next one to need support. These great people who give their time and effort to serve for this cause are great. Come out and support them.

Try school buses

FOR ALL the parents having difficulties with the Jackson Police Department stopping them while taking their children to school: Jackson has school buses that will take children to school. You wouldn't need to speed through school zones.

Still waiting

THE NOV. 11, 1983, Southeast Missourian front page featured an article that a local organization was planning to erect a memorial in honor of the Vietnam veterans. I hope they step up to the plate and help on this new project featured in Saturday's paper.

Organic solution

I AM one of those who likes to see grass off the street. If you would sweep or throw the grass back on the lawn, it would make organic matter, and that is good for your lawn.

Mexico's role

HOW COME the president of Mexico doesn't accept responsibility to guard the borders and prevent Mexicans from breaking the law and entering the U.S. illegally? We should arrest any employer who has hired illegals.

Keep the garden

I READ about the May Greene garden. Too much is taken away from our past. Please leave it alone.

Johnny had it right

LIKE THE Johnny Cash song, "One Piece at a Time," that's the way our politicians and big companies are doing. They are selling or giving our country away, one piece at a time.

Not a bad life

MIGRANT WORKERS work hard to make their family's living. They're not waiting for the government to take care of them. I was raised in the sharecropper's shack. My parents worked in the field with other races. We were all in the same boat. We were all poor. My parents also were migrant workers. They did what they had to do to lay in food for the winter so their kids didn't go hungry. Maybe we were simple-minded with a simple life, but is that bad? At least the kids spent 90 percent of their time outside making their own fun and making up games. They had to use their imaginations. There were no snacks between meals unless it was a cold biscuit or a piece of cornbread. Obesity was rare. Home remedies were our health care. In spite of it all, we were happy and mentally and physically healthier than today's society.

Need parents' help

I WISH my parents had picked out who I'd married. They stayed completely out of it. If they would have spoken up and taken the time to see what a loser I was marrying, I wouldn't be in the shape I am in 25 years later. I don't believe in divorce. Parents know their kids, they have their best interests at heart. When my son and daughter get ready to marry, I'll tell them my opinion of the person they've chosen.

City's heart

BY FAVORING large businesses over small ones and by opting out of the sales tax holiday, the city has proven where its heart is and that it has no interest in helping the average citizen of Cape Girardeau. It is time for a change at city hall.

MoDOT not mowing

I'M COMING through the I-55 interchange at Scott City. Why would the local police have to take prisoners to the interchange to do the mowing and trimming job that the Missouri Department of Transportation should do and we're paying taxes for? MoDOT isn't mowing in this whole area. It looks terrible.

Not another Bush

One thing we don't need in this country is another Bush as president. Our country is in a big mess now.

Some parents can't

MANY COMMENTS are made about parents helping their children with school work. The dilemma is that many parents are not interested nor have the intelligence to help, which is the biggest problem.

Tax support

IF CAPE Girardeau is going to charge sales tax during the back-to-school sales-tax holiday, and if Jackson is not going to charge sales tax, my family is just going to drive to Jackson to buy school supplies. And if Jackson decides to charge sales tax, we can go to Perryville or Sikeston. We will vote with our feet to support cities that support the sales-tax holiday.

Public abuse

EVERYONE DREADS going to the license bureau. If you wait till the last minute, there are long lines. However, it is the fault of anyone who waits and those who don't read their renewal notices, which tell them what they need to take with them. It's not the fault of the women who work there. I was shocked to witness what happened after a man was sent away for not having a tax receipt. The woman who waited on him seemed genuinely sorry that he had to leave, yet he threw a fit and used abusive language. It was inappropriate for someone who works for the public to have to take that kind of behavior. How would you feel had that woman been your wife, your mom or your daughter?