Speakout 11/21

Monday, November 21, 2005

The Chicago restaurant owner who posted a sign gently asking his patrons to have their children behave in his establishment has the right idea. Every time.....and I'm not exaggerating.....I go out to eat with my family or friends, there is one or more tiny tot(s) shrieking and bawling and squalling at decibels that would shatter glass. It seems that restaurants have had to become kid-friendly whether they want to or not for fear of offending somebody and/or being sued for some ridiculous reason because no one in a position of authority ever approaches the parents of these kids to ask them to tone down their little darlings. The parents just sit there, deaf and dumb, and feed their faces while their little air raid sirens blast away. Sometimes the kids escape from their seats and run amok which is very dangerous because the tables are being waited on by people carrying hot plates, hot coffee, etc. Somebody could get stepped on, tripped over or burned very badly. (And, folks, it is gross to let your tots fish around in the pans of food on the buffet tables with their little bare hands that have been who knows where.) If a directive is issued by the parents for the kid(s) to return to his or her seat, it is usually ineffective and goes unenforced because the adults are more interested in woofing down their meals rather than monitoring their kids' behavior. It has been suggested that if parents do not take responsibility for their children's behavior and teach them how to act in public places, restaurants will not only have smoking and non-smoking sections, but will be forced to have kid and non-kid sections as well. Sounds good to me, but it wouldn't be fair to the well behaved children with attentive parents. It all starts at home: if you want other people to think your children are as wonderful, cute and adorable as you think they are, then teach them how to behave. Teach them that civility matters. If you don't start now, you may live to regret it.

Attention fellow Senior citizens. Why do we have to saddle our children and grandchildren, twelve for me, with another built-in government program added to Medicare, which they will be paying for years and years? The new prescription drug program, as conceived, is a boondoggle, just another thing we cannot afford as a nation. Already so much money has been spent by the drug companies and the federal government to force us to enlist in this goofy program, understood by practically no one. Let's squash this prescription drug program before it starts and continue our other solutions social security improvements and Medicare solvency.

Good evening. I was just reading the SpeakOut about chicken pickin' and I agree with the column. I think too, that it is very wasteful of Wal Mart to throw out good chickens that were cooked. I agree with her. Why can't they give it to the Soup Kitchen or just give it to someone out on the streets who is hungry? Why not do that instead of just throw it away? I tell you, they must not read the Bible. That is being very wasteful. There are people out there who are starving, digging through trash cans wanting something to eat, and here Wal Mart is throwing out this good chicken that has never been touched. I totally agree with this woman. She must be a Christian woman for speaking out. God bless her.