Courtesy Saves Lives
Dear Editor,
I am employed by a well-known ride sharing company and have over 3,000 trips under my belt. During my tenure, I have seen or driven up on numerous accidents that could have been avoided if drivers would stop driving so fast and show some common courtesy. But I know that is difficult when we live in a society with so many people with narcissistic tendencies.
The following are my observations over the last three years.
Speed is killing folks. Drivers believe that their right to arrive at a destination supersedes someone else’s right for existence. These narcissistic drivers believe they are the greatest, (where have I heard this before?) and that their driving skills, reaction, spatial perception and vision are far superior to those around them, so they weave in and out of traffic. These drivers fail to take in to consideration the 70- or 80-year-old driver with poor reflexes, concentration on getting to Rite Aid to pick up their daily medication or Preparation H. For all you narcissistic drivers out there, I’ve got news for you: It’s defensive drivers that make concessions for your idiotic, reckless driving that are the great drivers.
The streets of Greensboro are not a NASCAR track. Stop drafting off the car in front of you. I have had cars maybe a foot off my back bumper. If the car in front of you should have to emergency brake for a child running across the street. There is no way can you react in time to stop. At very best, your insurance rates will go up. At worse, you will have a couple nice evenings at no cost in the city morgue. There is no wonder we have so many multi-car accidents. Innocent people are losing their lives because some drivers do no possess the very adult, mature condition called patience.
Why can’t narcissistic drivers give turn signals? Again, it’s all about courtesy to other drivers. Turn signals enable someone that is waiting on you to pull out in traffic. Nothing irritates me more than waiting on someone that is turning. Oh, I forget, it’s all about you. For you self-absorbed drivers, I am no psychic and I cannot feel your intentions. This is not Star Wars and I do not have the force.
I hope this letter saves lives, but narcissistic drivers will turn this around and call me an old fart that needs to get a life.
David Ashby
Hopeful For Nation
Dear Editor,
In his latest book, The Soul of America, Jon Meacham says this: “In our finest hours, the soul of our country manifests itself in an inclination to open our arms rather than clinch our fists; to look outward rather than turn inward; to accept rather than reject.”
So can we find our way? Can we return to a time when love and concern for others is an important driving force in our lives? Can we embody the belief that we have as a key role to lift up and not put down others and to and insure that all live in dignity with basic needs met and promises delivered? Can our self-centeredness be overcome by a tsunami of caring, compassion and action because we realize what we have is meant to be shared? And will the goodness we all possess create a great light that that will overcome the darkness for the betterment of all humankind?
The history of this great nation leads me to believe beyond any doubt that this will be so.
Bob Kollar
Trolls Not Just Under Bridges
Dear Editor,
The lords and ladies have the general population right where they want them. Using their tools in the mainstream media and social media, they’ve manipulated the weak-minded sheeple on the left and right, and polarized the American people, causing them to turn on one another like rabid animals.
You can no longer express an opinion, take a personal stand, try to have a rational discussion or support someone or something without being savaged, insulted, ostracized, have vile and sick things wished upon you and your loved ones, or even threatened with physical harm or death, all anonymously, by sick little underwear-wearing trolls in their parents’ basements.
One of the top senior executives in Twitter has lunch at Chic-fil-A and he’s immediately brought to his knees by the LGBTQRSTUV rope and torch waving mobs, and has to do a public mea culpa or never be allowed to show his face again and most likely run the risk of being fired for being “insensitive”.
On our side, the rot that has been festering in the halls of the DOJ and to some extent the CIA is being exposed. It’s not the hard working, dedicated people in the trenches, but the scum that lurks in the swamp doing the bidding of those creatures that have taken up permanent residence there. As I have pointed out before, the term “professional politician” is an oxymoron. And again I have pointed out the majority of the blame lies with the American people. The same people who scream for term limits, which I have on occasion agreed with, don’t seem to understand that term limits are already built into the Constitution. It’s called elections. You simply have to do some research, make an informed decision, then get off your arse and go to the polls and vote.
To start getting this country right, two things need to happen: Get politicians who will adhere to and enforce the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, and repeal the 17th Amendment thus restoring state representation at the federal level – which will restore the original intention of the founding fathers and give power back to the people.
Don’t know what those are? Maybe because they don’t teach government in schools anymore? They have to keep the masses ignorant in order to control them better. After all, according to Marx and Lenin they know what’s best.
Go Galt and save the republic.
Alan Marshall
Republicans Are Reds?
Dear Editor,
I thought that conservative Republicans were against communism.
President Trump has recently returned from meeting his dear friend dictator Kim Jong Un. President Trump praised this brutal dictator. He called Kim smart, talented and even funny. I would like conservatives to think about something.
Imagine if liberal, left-wing Hillary Clinton was president. What would conservatives say if Hillary Clinton praised Kim Jong Un? They would probably call “Crooked Hillary” a communist sympathizer. Can you imagine what conservatives would say if Hillary Clinton had saluted a Communist general?
Are conservatives hypocrites, or do they now support communist appeasement? I used to wonder why the Republican Party chose red as their political color. Not anymore.
Chuck Mann
Panhandling To Live
Dear Editor,
In response to the recent attacks on the American poor who panhandle: I am sorry that some thin-skinned and sheltered, privileged people want the “problem” to just go away. Sorry that the machines and immigrants are taking our jobs and that our memories of a prosperous America in the Leave It to Beaver days have faded away.
I am over 50 and as an ole farm boy was taught a good work ethic. I worked most of my life (one job for 15 years). I’ve watched helplessly, as have many Americans, our good paying blue collar jobs go overseas. I’ve noticed college students graduate and go back home because we have become a fast-food nation. I’ve watched on YouTube families who live in RV’s because they work but can’t afford the rent.
I never thought I would become homeless. I am an only child and my parents are deceased, so there is no family support. After many years of big lawyers and spoiled Americans having their way, we are not a nation ranked 23rd in human freedom. Wow. Canada has free health care but all we want is entertainment and a large war machine.
I hear people say, go to the shelter and go to the free food events. Well, I am over 50 and I have several health problems. The shelter is full most of the time and drugs are rampant. The long lines for the free food is a mixture of arguing, hoarding from the people who aren’t homeless and racist remarks toward the “white devils.”
I want to thank some down to earth people of Greensboro for doing as Christ would do and give to the poor. As Christ criticized the religious leaders of this day, I do as well. What is more important, a multi-million dollar jet or people? Many homeless Americans are older Americans with health issues who have to wait two years or more for a disability decision. As poverty rises and America declines, you too may be next. Don’t hate cause you can’t relate. As Jerry Reed once sang, “She got the gold mine, I got the shaft.”
Anonymous
Glad Jury Will decide
In Yourse case
Dear Editor,
On June 17, 2016, Police Officers Charlotte Jackson and Travis Cole confronted Dejuan Yourse at his mom’s house. A confrontation ensued. The officers had sufficient probable cause to detain and arrest Yourse. But because of political correctness, the city manager – who was scared of doing the right thing and standing up for the officers and encouraging the trial of the cases – allowed his knees to buckle and his spine to crumble and, along with Deputy Chief James Hinson, pushed the officers to resign and then paid Yourse $95,000. No jury would have reached such a conclusion based on the facts and reports of the officers.
Also, I hope that during discovery by the lawyers, the names of the officer(s) and the city councilmember who released the body camera recordings of the officers in violation of the Personnel Privacy Act becomes known and are held liable. Police officers often have a difficult time making on-the-scene decisions. Having someone other than a jury decide what was reasonable under the circumstances is and was not fundamentally fair to the officers, and paying Yourself $95,000 was a travesty and beyond the bounds of reason and common sense.
Hooray for the lawsuit. I hope I get on the jury.
Anonymous
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