SpeakOut 11/13

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Call 471-6636

This is about your wonderful, heartwarming story in the Oct. 31 paper about the two high school football teams in Ohio who elected to let a senior with a case of mental retardation to practice faithfully all four years with his team and never once played in any game. They decided to let him play the last play of the game. Originally he was to just receive the snap and take the knee so he wouldn't get hurt. But at the last moment, all of the coaches and players on both teams agreed to let him run and score a touchdown instead, even though it ruined a 42-0 shutout. He received the ball and 21 players all parted in the center like the Red Sea before Moses. Then they all ran along side of him, urging him along to the goal post. Tears were flowing everywhere. What a wonderful thing that was to happen. I imagine all of your readers were touched by that too. Maybe even the Bertrand bullies found something positive and good there too. You reckon? No, I don't think so either, but it was a good story and we need more like it.

Pearl Harbor, 9/11 and George W. Bush, the three worst things that have ever happened to the United States.

When the family services take children from their home, you wonder what is going through the parents' minds? What kind of mother or father were they? If they were bad parents, why did they let them keep a newborn baby? You have to wonder what is going through the children's minds when the baby sister gets to stay at home when they don't get to go home. The children probably think they are bad children or that their parents don't even want them. Everyone needs to take time with their children because you never know, it might be you who are fighting for your children. My children is, why did they use taxpayers' money to take that many children from a home? Why didn't they take that money to keep the children together in their parents' home and work with the parents? What kind of system do we have today? If they were bad parents, why did they still let them have their newborn baby?

I was reading in the Nov. 3 SpeakOut where someone said Mr. Jensen should take a driver's test because he is "about to reach that age." Well, I think everyone at the Standard Democrat needs to take a spelling test because it is appalling at the amount of words that are misspelled. This morning there was an article from the Stoddard County Sheriff's Department where the man's last name was used in consecutive sentences without being spelled identically. They need to take a spelling test up there.

You're right, caller. We did use the suspect's name twice and the second time was misspelled. We try very hard to have correct information in our news articles. But even we aren't perfect yet. Thanks for calling.

I am calling about the lunches at the Sikeston Kindergarten Center. They usually have good, nutritious lunches but sometimes they have breakfast foods for lunch. Not all children like breakfast food for lunch. SpeakOut is in no position to help with this issue. You should call the school and speak with the principal.

To the man who was driving the grey Toyota, you did not give a signal light, you pulled right out in front of me, you crept down the road way too slow and didn't keep your eyes on the road. If you can't do any better than that, you need to quit driving. You could have caused a lot of major wrecks.

Vanduser "eyesore." I totally agree with Mr. Thompson. The owners should have to clean up their mess or pay a fine. It makes everyone else look bad. Vanduser was once a nice place and a clean place. It needs to be that way again.