Speakout 4/18

Friday, April 18, 2003

I live in Mississippi County. I read in the Standard Democrat, "Municipalities ready for April 8 election." In this article, it referred to East Prairie and Charleston School districts in a foreign way. The article renamed these schools to "Mississippi County School District No. 1" and "Mississippi County School District No. 2." Was this an oversight, purposeful or prophetic? Is there a Mississippi County School District in the works? I'm sure all your readers will be interested in your response.

It was purposeful, not a renaming or an oversight. The formal official name for these districts are indeed "Mississippi County School District No. 1" and "Mississippi County School District No. 2," as they appeared on the ballot. There are no plans to reorganize into one, countywide district.

This is in response to "Missed the boat." I don't think you even found the dock. The purpose of speaking out, initially, was about people meal-sharing and eating things they did not order, or ordering a meal and eating the salad bar in the restaurant and then asking for the meal "to go." That's two for the price of one. Tipping came in to the subject because when you do add these things to the customer's ticket, they become rude ad sometimes obnoxious and then on top of all that, do not tip! You say you do not tip. This is your prerogative, but let me explain a little about tips. This custom has been around for probably longer than I've been alive. It means "To Insure Prompt Service." People tip to wait personnel, hairdressers, cab drivers, parking attendants, doormen and I'm sure there are others. Tipping is to show you appreciate someone going that extra mile for you - serving you. I've checked with many dine-in restaurants here and they all pay "waitress" wages. I was told that this started when Ronald Reagan was in office (the allocating of tips which allows employers to pay $2.13 an hour). As for the $9 to $10 an hour, yes, I have made that before. O holidays people seem to be more generous; maybe they feel back that they are enjoying the holiday with their families and we are working, serving them. But for whatever reason, I am glad. As for raising prices at the restaurant, if you don't believe in tipping, why would you want to pay more for your food?

I want to take my hat of to the president of Cuba, Fidel Castro, and his government. On April 2, they hijacked a ship up there in Cuba and the people were put to death on April 11. It took them nine days to try them and put them to death. Hijacking in Cuba is a very serious offense. But we have people who have been on death row 15-20 years and cost the taxpayers millions of dollars to keep one person behind bars. People who commit bad crimes such as murder or rape, it shouldn't take 15-20 years to put that person where he belongs. If our government were like the Cuban government, we would be saving billions of dollars. Don't play around with those people. Make them pay for the crime they have committed. I saw how fast it works in Cuba. They were guilty and were put to death really quick. It's a shame when people have to be put to death, but if it's got to happen, it's got to happen. So keep up the good work, Cuba, and maybe some of it will rub off on the United States.