Letters to the Editor, Feb. 28
Kindness
I find myself, not unlike other retired old, opinionated men, writing letters to the editor expressing my strong opinions about the political issues of the day. This must be done surreptitiously as my wife and adult children strongly disapprove. I say my days are limited and I have a lot of knowledge and experience to share. They say I am just disgruntled as a consequence of old age.
But the purpose of this letter is not to share my superior intellect born of a lifetime of education and experience but to relate a story of an act of kindness extended to myself and wife of 64 years. This has nothing to do with us and everything to do with the kindness and thoughtfulness of others. It has to do with the character of others who exemplify a spirit of kindness.
My wife and I decided to attend the free concert at the Resident’s Beach here on Marco Island. We drove to the event finding a parking space at the far south end of the crowded parking lot. I struggled to carry our two folding chairs and found I could carry only one and still use my cane to keep my balance.
My wife also uses a cane and we were off to find a place in the shade to enjoy the concert along with the hundreds of others. We walked slowly and rested on occasion on the benches until finally reaching a location adjoining the sidewalk where we found some shade from two tall slender palm trees.
I set up our one chair for my wife and sat on a nearby bench in the hot sun. I was concerned because we were crowding into a space very near others. Then what only can be concerned a miracle happened. A smiling lady in the adjoining circle of her friends got up, came over, and said they had an extra folding chair we could use. I could sit out of the sun.
She then held up a bottle of cold water and asked if we wanted it. What are the odds of finding an available folding chair out of the sun in a crowd of hundreds. The kindness and thoughtfulness of this smiling lady was a miracle for us, and a big one. When my wife later moved her chair to the retreating shade several others immediately offered to help her. When we left, we thanked all for their kindness.
This was Marco Island where the maximum speed limit does not exceed 35. A place where the many boaters respect speed limitations out of concern for the aquatic life and fellow boaters. A place where drivers will motion you to go first at a four way stop and if following you drive a safe distance behind. Marco Island seems like a place where kindness and thoughtfulness are not only words but a way of living.
Andy Dalton, Marco Island
Last week’s diatribe
It was with a sense of resignation, disgust and sadness that I read the letter to the editor form Bob Stabile last week (Marco Eagle, Feb. 17).
First, the letter was not so much a commentary or discussion of issues that concern the community, but a diatribe against “blacks, queers and others” who he feels are being given opportunities that white people (including myself) should have.
The letter simply espouses bigotry and hatred and statements lacking in any facts, be it general or specific to him. While the first amendment grants you the right to print anything, it does not mandate you print everything. Letters that are simply angry racist and bigoted comments about certain groups, are not “news.” This space should be reserved for opinions on matters if concern not a forum to espouse hate.Secondly, this writer has utterly no understanding (and frankly neither do I personally as a white male) of what these groups face daily, except they face people like him, who prejudge qualifications, or lack thereof based on a class they were born into.
As an incredibly proud father of a daughter who is a member one of these classes who has overcome more obstacles because of who she is then most of us will ever face. She graduated from prestigious undergraduate and graduate programs, has a job with an international corporation, earned through hard work, not given, one in which the previous writer probably uses, and who has an incredible group of supportive family and friends, yet faces people like Mr. Stabile who simply assume she is unqualified and taking jobs from him and his family because of who she is.
It is people like this that these groups fear and who are the problem, who prejudge them with no basis. The problem is not as much as what he asserts, but rather what looks back at people like him in a mirror every day.
Scott Sitner, Marco Island
MORELetters to the Editor, Feb. 17