This is a published letter to the editor in response to an op-ed that I wrote for the Viewpoints section of the Arizona Republic's sunday paper. My favorite parts are his attacking of my name -- that hasn't happened since grade school -- and his equating of children with all that is bad in the world (somehow his grandchildren, who are only allowed to visit up to 30 days a year, don't fall into this offensive description, at least not yet. I I wonder how his grandkids might feel about this letter... Bunker up, baby!
-------------
I'm not sure what qualification Andrew Blechman has for foisting his egalitarian claptrap off on us ("Living in a world of exclusion," Viewpoints, Sunday), or just how he bamboozled you into accepting him as knowledgeable authority with no ax to grind, but, in a word: BLECH!
We live in an active-adult community. We're tired of the rat race. We enjoy the peace and quiet here; no screaming kids, no vandalism, lower insurance rates for home and auto. There's no graffiti - except political posters. No items mysteriously missing from our garages or yards or porches, no more broken windows, no wild parties, no exhibitionists speeding on local streets, no drag-racing. In short, no more kids!
We live in Sun City Grand, and it is grand! We love it. Our children love it. Our grandchildren love it! Our friends love it. Blechman is the only one who hates it, perhaps because he can't push egalitarianism here.
When our children were of age, my wife and I helped implement or manage or coach Pony League, AAA Little League, Little League, Senior Little League, Jr. and Sr. Babe Ruth Leagues and American Legion Sandlot League baseball teams. We coached at all of these levels, and I managed the entire Little League program for our town of 15,000 people.
My wife and I are trained Family-to-Family instructors and group leaders with the National Association for the Mentally Ill. I will be training in September to join our fire department's Civilian Emergency Response Team. We're in our 70s but still contributing to society.
So, Blechman, don't you dare tell us we haven't earned our peace and quiet. We earned it when you were still in diapers. - Joel Finkel, Surprise
--------------
Hey Joe "FINK" Finkel -- don't forget to lock the door to your bunker when your neighbor's grandkids come to visit.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment