Regarding the letter published in the Nov. 29 issue from Betty Shaffer ("
Bleeding Hearts Are Worthless"), she's off to a good start already with that title. In her letter she lets us know that she works in a Main Street store downtown and that she finds herself in contact often with people who don't fit into the paying customer category or, as she likes to call them, "others." Her exact definition of the "others" is this: "people coming in looking for help, a conversation or money."
I just think that someone should give her a hand. I mean, what a waste to have to -- gasp! -- talk and possibly help another who doesn't have the money and education that many of us have been blessed with. I remember it well from working in a Clifton convenience store for six years.
"When is Cincinnati City Council going to do something about the homeless people or the poor people walking around this city?" Shaffer asks. Well, gee, maybe you can go to the next meeting and propose that they look into buying an island to put all the "others" on so that the privileged no longer have to think about and/or see them.
It's been rather obvious that only those with real money count. Might as well make it official, aye?
-- Samantha Graham, Delhi
Look in the Middle of the Road
Loved the one-sidedness of the Family Values pieces ("Progressive Family Values," issue of Nov. 22).
Let me see if I have this right: In the bad old days when people generally had two parents, fathers (never mothers) beat on their kids and children's individuality was stunted. But everything is much better now that we have sexual freedom (often coupled with reproductive irresponsibility), rampant divorce, lots of kids living in unstable situations with changing casts of characters and lots of single-parent, usually fatherless homes. Yeah for freedom!
Somewhere in between the strident everything-is-black-and-white right and the strident everything-is-black-and-white left is practicality and what's best for families and children. Somewhere in the middle of the road.
-- Jennifer Willis, Cincinnati
