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Snobbery is sickening

Thrift store does not belong here, Feb. 14 letter

I am writing to express my outrage over the letter writer from Wesley Chapel regarding the building of a Salvation Army Thrift Store there. He makes it perfectly clear that he wants nothing whatsoever to do with anyone who isn't in his socioeconomic bracket. Well, isn't that just too bad. I have news for him; there are a lot more people who are not in his well-to-do economic lifestyle than he realizes. He needs to take the blinders off, look around and see what is going on in the real world.

The homeless are a real problem, not just on U.S. 19 in Hudson or in Zephyrhills or anywhere else that isn't Wesley Chapel. Does he really believe that having a Salvation Army Thrift Store is going to bring in an "unsavory clientele"? Just what does he mean? Would he be referring to someone like me, who doesn't earn $100,000 a year or more? Or is he referring to someone who is just squeaking by, paycheck to paycheck? How many of his neighbors are really living above their means, perhaps just a bill or two away from becoming one of the "unsavory clientele"? It can and has happened.

Not everyone is born with a silver spoon in the mouth. To suggest that the people who live in Wesley Chapel are above the rest of us who live in Hudson or Zephyrhills, or anywhere else for that matter, is just plain old snobbery of the highest order. Maybe he did move into an expensive home in a gated community to get away from the riff-raff. That's all well and good. But he cannot turn his back on the plight of the homeless just because it offends his sensibilities.

People like him offend my sensibilities. Actually, people like him just plain make me sick.

Gilda M. Buckley, Hudson

Stores aren't just for poor

Thrift store does not belong here Feb. 14 letter

As a regular supporter of the Salvation Army for many years, I take extreme offense to the writer's concerns.

Has he visited a Salvation Army Thrift Store? If he did, he would probably be surprised to see some of his neighbors shopping there because they can't afford to shop Macy's or Dillards or the like, as all their money goes to pay those huge mortgage payments, taxes, insurance and payments on fancy cars to keep up with the Joneses.

Has he ever visited a Salvation Army Soup Kitchen and seen the poor souls, families with children, down on their luck probably getting the only good meal that they will get that day? Has he considered that only by the grace of God that could be him?

The writer mentioned a Hudson facility and how bad it looked. The Salvation Army does not have a Hudson facility, and I am not familiar with the Tampa facility.

We have, however, shopped the Port Richey and Holiday thrift stores, gotten excellent values and never seen the unsavory clientele you describe. In fact I am amazed at the number of new cars, including Cadillacs, Lincolns, Mercedes and other upscale automobiles in the parking lots.

At the risk of bursting the writer's bubble, his 2,800-square-foot, $350,000 home is being devalued by the conditions in the real estate market. If conditions continue to go the direction they are heading, he and his upscale neighbors, with their big mortgages and taxes, may welcome a convenient thrift store.

Robert W. Penn, Port Richey

Letter was hateful, bigoted

Thrift store does not belong here Feb. 14 letter

The letter writer apparently supports the Salvation Army and the work it does, as long as it does not involve bringing a thrift store and the riff-raff it would serve into his upscale backyard, in his upscale neighborhood, in upscale Wesley Chapel with its upscale businesses, upscale development and upscale buildings.

He also thinks homeless people will endanger him and his upscale friends, but this newspaper has been full of stories about homeless people being victimized.

Well, I'm an old downscale retired dog-face soldier living in downscale Zephyrhills, near equally downscale Dade City, and I find the writer's comments rude, arrogant, hateful and bigoted. And for the record, I wouldn't mind a bit if the Salvation Army brought a thrift store here.

Gerald Barnes, Zephyrhills

Bunting is a great leader

GOP hard-liners' days numbered Feb. 11 letter

This is in response to the letter writer's statement that many Republicans want a change in the current leadership of the Republican Executive Committee. If that were true, they had every opportunity to make that change during the past election. Bill Bunting was re-elected unanimously. I am a member of that committee and was present for the election.

Mr. Bunting was re-elected because he raised more money for the GOP than anyone else in Pasco County; brought back the GOP from the brink of bankruptcy to the flourishing organization it is today; and has been a leader in the many firsts for the state of Florida.

Mr. Bunting is the most honest, caring, ethical, compassionate person I have met in over 30 years of working in the social services arena. This man will not compromise his values for anything or anyone. He and his wife are more about this county than anyone I know.

I also believe the letter writer confused the personality of a strong, loyal leader with that of a controller. Being assertive and passionate about what you believe in is not control. Mr. Bunting actually is the opposite. I have watched and observed how he has empowered people to be themselves, speak their true thoughts, give their own opinions and be open to and welcome new ideas and suggestions.

Debbie Vosburgh, Holiday

[Last modified February 16, 2007, 07:33:16]