SPEAKOUT

Flowers make the day

THANK YOU very much to the members of Vision 2000 for the flowers planted all over Cape Girardeau. It makes my day.

Caring for the elderly

THERE ARE people who have families with elderly folks, and I happen to be one. Sometimes it gets on my nerves a little bit to have to take care of a person 57 years older than I am. She's 87 and mentally sharp but frail. Sometimes you get problems, and people just don't understand. I want people to know it's a hard job, and we deserve some recognition, those of us that care for our elderly instead of just sending them off into a nursing center.

Slaughtering chickens

YOU TALK about inspecting of pork and beef. I wish someone would pay attention to the chickens. The chickens that are processed now have too much blood. The breast is all about all that you can eat. The chickens are not killed the way they should be. They don't bleed enough, settles in the bones of the drumsticks and the thighs. I've spent 35 years in poultry houses, and I wish someone would look into this. I love chicken. When that chicken comes from that plant with blood tips on the wings, that means they did not bleed. You see, the inspector doesn't see this, and it shows up when that chicken is cooked.

Too many answering machines

LONG DISTANCE telephone companies get more and more money, and I get less and less personalized service. All I get is a bunch of answering machines that either keep me on hold, make me listen to Bach or Handel -- and I heard enough of that in college, or they have me pushing buttons. And when I push a button, I get another answering machine. I think I've had it with telephone companies.

Dealing with drainage

EVERY TIME I see these people and their writings about the drainage, I always think of a speech I heard many years ago by a professor of drainage engineering with a Ph.D. The man said, "The main problem is the blivet. A blivet is when you try to put 10 pounds of stuff in a 5-pound sack. Drainage is very simple. It boils down to you have two alternatives. You either raise the town or lower and widen the river." He also said, "Drainage is like health. You can't cure 40 years of bad living with one pain pill. It has to be done with a lot of effort and a lot of money."

Prisoner liability

THIS IS directly addressed to the person who is depressed to see deputies washing their own cars and prisoners inside, evidently advocating the prisoners should be washing the cars. Well, in principle, that sounds great, but what about the litigation and liability if a prisoner falls on some soap or something like that and cracks his head open? Also, the escape factor is more easily designed with prisoners washing the cars. I would probably say keep them inside under guard at all times.

Get a life

THE ANTI-smoking nut who keeps calling in should get a life. There are a lot more important things going on in this world to care about than whether or not you smell a little smoke or get a little smoke on your clothing when someone is smoking in a restaurant.