SPEAKOUT

MY MOTHER MAKES me so angry. Maybe she'll see herself if she reads this. Dear Mother: I love you, but you make it so hard and you hurt me so much when I try to talk to you and you don't listen. You talk at me and over me, and you never listen to me. Listen to what I'm saying when I talk to you. I love you, but I could love you a whole lot more if you'd just listen.

PUT "PEOPLE'S COURT" back on in the afternoon. It's so early to get up and see that show, and I just love it. I wish it was back in the afternoon like it used to be. Please put it back on in the evening.

I AGREE WITH Don Pritchard that the loss of population in the city of Cape Girardeau is a symptom of a problem; however, he is absolutely wrong when he tries to pinpoint the cause to the Cape Girardeau city leaders. Don should look a little closer to home. A large part of the declining population is due to constant whining, bickering, and disruption of city activities just because things don't go some people's way.

I CAN'T BELIEVE the dirt and grime on the exterior of Kent Library. The building is so dirty that it's hard to read the authors' names attached to the exterior. Surely the university's maintenance people could do a better job of maintaining the exterior of this landmark university building.

I THINK IT'S very good to have the standings and all the scores in the paper like you did on Sunday. I think it really makes it better where you can see everything that happens and get an idea of all the teams in the area. Thank you.

CAN ANYBODY TELL me how any church is justified in inviting you to join the church and then turn around and vote on whether or not you will be accepted as a member of that church; or, whether or not a member of that church may remain a member if his sins have become public? I thought church was for sinners of all kinds, not just for those who haven't got caught yet. It would be mighty hard to decide which sin is worse than another unless you take them in order of the Ten Commandments. I truly would like an explanation because I can't think of a soul, living or dead, who hasn't sinned one way or another just by opening his mouth. And the live ones are still sinning. Does it mean that you can be a church member if you're just a little sinner but not if you're a big sinner? Thank you.

THE RECYCLING EFFORTS are becoming exasperating. When I first moved to Cape Girardeau 15 years ago I found out about the VIP Center taking paper, newspapers, magazines, everything. Since that time I've been taking most of my newspapers and papers that I collect in separate bags to that point. This year when the big recycling effort occurs we find ourselves no longer being able to go to the VIP Center, that the city will take them. So now we take them to the city, and today we read in the paper they cannot take anything but newspaper and cardboard. I used to do more recycling years ago, and now the recycling effort is talked up and you can't do it. It's getting to the point of exasperation. I don't know which direction this supposedly good program is going with such results as this. Just wanted to voice my opinions.

DON'T WE LOVE most of these naked women we see on TV? Anymore you don't have to look for a good-looking woman. You don't even have to worry about morality; they don't have any. All the naked women we see on TV are really disgusting. Who cares about morality anymore?

PLEASE ALLOW ME to tell you about my neighbors. The houses are very close together. Our house is probably about two or three feet away from theirs. They have had me up now since before 6. The husband has to be at work evidently at 6:30, and his vehicle needs a muffler bad. He'll go out and start it about 30 minutes before he has to go to work, and he sits out there and revs it and revs it, and it vibrates the whole neighborhood. About 7 one of his sons starts beating on his drums. I think he must open up his bedroom window because they then vibrate our house, which gets their dog, who barks at every movement, to barking. And the dog barks and barks and he beats and beats. This will go on most of the day. On school days the boy will go to school but the dog continues to bark. They leave the dog outside sometimes until 11 or 12 at night and the dog barks. I have a set of twins and it's very hard for me to get any sleep at all. I have called them and complained and they ignore me. Thank you.