Stick up for handicapped
I very much appreciate the thoughts Publisher David Brown shared in his “My View” column on July 19. I use a rollator-type walker when out and about, and my husband, Hugh, was in a wheelchair for at least a year before his passing.
He was exactly right about push-button access being highly important. With a walker in front of me, I many times cannot reach to push or pull a door easily, and I congratulate and thank the staff at many businesses who notice and come to my aid.
Sadly, one of the biggest challenges I face is not in shops but medical offices. Most folks probably have never noticed, but doors in medical buildings are some of the heaviest anywhere.
Public restroom areas, even in some hospitals, are often off to the side in small hallways that are difficult to negotiate for most, much less those using mobility aids. Sure, when you finally get the door open, there are grab bars, elevated sinks and accessible dispensers. However, trying to balance while pushing or pulling on doors in confined spaces to get there can easily become a sideshow.
The same is true when escorting an individual in a wheelchair. Imagine, if you will, reaching for that impossibly heavy door in a small area around a human in a metal barrier. You don’t want to hurt the walls, doors, chair or the person … or yourself. I was never very good at gymnastics way back in high school 55-plus years ago, and I surely haven’t improved with age in that skill at least.
In any case, I pray that folks nearby will ask if help is needed. Sometimes people like me are stubborn and refuse it, but I always thank those who ask. Their kindness is truly a blessing.
Sarah Williamson, Bellview
God loves, cares for all
I would like to respectfully respond to rebuttals to my letter to the editor regarding hatred being spread along many lines in our country, including in some churches. I seem to have gotten criticized for the one Scripture I quoted, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.”
I must admit that surprised me. The churches I grew up in emphasized the love of God and His son, Jesus. I went to a religious school and never was hatred toward any group condoned. One writer used the word “reprobates” several times in reference to LGBT folk. According to Webster’s Dictionary it means morally corrupt, foreordained to damnation, rejected as worthless, condemned.
In middle school, one of my friends was a gay boy. He loved horses, and we would ride double on my very tolerant horse. We talked. He knew he was born different and expressed his desire to be normal. He was constantly taunted by boys at school.
He was a kind soul, who was always there to help his friends and made sure he took his sickly mom to church on Sunday. My mom told me he was gay and what that meant. To me, he was just one of my friends. A few years later, a school friend said he committed suicide.
I think the difference between those writers and me is that I was able as a child to judge my friend as the kind fellow he was. I was taught God loved and cared for everyone.
I will leave it at that.
Lynne Stevens, Robbinsville
U.S. banana republic now
Our country has developed into a banana republic. The biggest story in America today is mainstream media is owned outright by the Democrat Party, effectively turning our republic into a one-party state.
Because of the media cover-ups going on today, Democrats get away with political and legal tyranny every day.
Examples of a coordinated media conspiracy are:
- Mainstream media refused to cover Hunter Biden’s laptop during the 2020 campaign.
- They refuse to cover the weaponization of the U.S. government, including the FBI and DOJ, against conservatives and critics of Biden’s administration.
- They refuse to cover the open dangerous border, identify the millions of illegal invaders involved in cartel drug, child trafficking and sex trading activities.
- They refuse to cover the ongoing failure and disaster of the Covid vaccines, including reports on the original vaccine trial results showing death and injury.
- They did not disclose false claims about the vaccines’ effectiveness, the significant effectiveness of “natural immunity” versus vaccines and the determined campaign to silence critics of the vaccines.
- They intentionally demonized two effective and inexpensive drugs that could have prevented Covid deaths – Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine.
Suppressing facts by the mainstream media interfered with the outcome of elections, changed the nation’s power structure, cost the lives of thousands of Americans and changed our children’s future.
The newly elected GOP Congress is powerless to pass legislation for the next two years. Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the GOP Congress’ primary role should be to conduct high-profile investigations and public hearings to expose the ongoing media fraud in America.
It’s time to subpoena every CEO of mainstream media to appear before Congress and answer tough questions under oath on why they are covering up Biden administration and medical establishment corruption. Pressure them to expose their bias and subterfuge.
Terry Payne, Marble
Dying weeds not our image
During the past two weeks, the roadside plant population on a large stretch of U.S. 64/74 West, and particularly near mile marker 2, has undergone dramatic alteration to resemble the appearance of dying plants in the fall. This most probably represents indiscriminate application of herbicides by the state highway authorities.
In review of the N.C. Department of Transportation policies for “Weed Management” (connect.ncdot.gov/resources/roadside/VegetationManagementDocuments/Weed%20Management.pdf), I can see no justification for the extensive use of these agents in control of growth along the shoulder or in regard to enhancing road visibility of approaching vehicles, or other potential reasons. The effect is to seriously detract from the much-valued appearance of plant growth along our beautiful vistas.
In fact, loss of plant life on the steeply sloped sides of the roads predisposes to soil erosion. Perhaps the Cherokee Scout could inquire of the DOT for a justification.
Dr. Joseph Keffer, Murphy
Social workers do great service
On June 28, 2023, there was a front-page article with the first sentence saying, “I think DSS is the demonic sister of Satan.” The more I have thought about this, the more angry I have become.
I personally know social workers who have worked in child protective services. There have been many nights he or she have tossed and turned, worrying about children who they have tried to protect, only for them to go back into the same situation where they receive further trauma or are even injured to the point of death. Then guess who gets blamed: the social worker.
There are times they have to seek police protection because it is unsafe for them to go to a home. There are times when they end up staying in the DSS office during the night with small, frightened children because there is no emergency foster care for them. This is after the children’s parents have been so under the influence or involved in domestic violence that it is unsafe for the children to stay.
Not only does the DSS help with protection of children, they also try to help our elderly, who have no one to give them care. They try to help people who are down on their luck and need assistance with food, shelter and heat
In my opinion, the people in DSS are more like angels than demonic sisters. The system is broken but more from convoluted laws developed by politicians and lawyers. The people that do this sort of work went into it to help their fellow man.
So to make a blanket statement such as this is so wrong.
Claudette Morgan, Andrews