Today's Letters: There's clearly something wrong

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published November 13, 2007

Ways to lessen insurance bills Nov. 9, letter

Now, let me see if I have this right, the letter writer's insurance bill dropped from $6,000. To $4,400.

He increased his deductible, dropped full replacement value on their possessions, took advantage of the sinkhole coverage option and made the insurance company risk free. And he is thanking Sen. Mike Fasano for all the hard work that he did to reform our homeowners insurance crisis? Is there something wrong with this picture?

The politicians now in office have taken care of the insurance companies, not the citizens of Pasco County. I just don't get where the letter writer is ahead of the game. The politicians burned the midnight oil? Yes they did. We were expecting a big beefy steak and they threw us beef jerky! Par for the politicians.

Elisa Williams, Hudson

Invisible victims endure quietly

Her name? Doesn't matter. No one remembers it anyway.

She sits on the bus on the way to work. No one notices. Just another rider on just another day.

She stands in the aisle of the grocery and adds the items in her head. Sometimes she puts a few things back, sometimes she dares to buy them all. She longs to have the gray in her hair covered, but milk has gone up and then there are the medicines and the co-payments.

No one notices anyway. Her parents are ill now; she has moved them in with her. Her husband is a good man, a strong, good father. But the Agent Orange got him. She bathes him after she feeds her parents. Then she sits by his bedside, turns on the television. He never seems to notice, but she finds a sports station for him anyway while the clothes are washing and the dishes stand in the drainer.

She grabs a bowl of cereal and sometimes a cookie or a cracker.

Then, she sits and picks up the phone. Calls the hospital VA, her son is doing so much better now. She tells him how much she loves him, she tells him how proud she is of him. She offers encouragement. She reminds him that he learned how to walk once and he can learn to walk again on the new legs.

Maybe she can find someone to come to her home for a day or two and look after her parents and her husband then she could visit.

There are many casualties of war. They remain invisible only if we let them.

Peno Hardesty, New Port Richey

Teachers deserve higher paychecks Nov. 9, letter

School employees all deserve raises

I do agree teachers are in need of raises. But I also believe if you are going to give teachers raises, why not the librarians, school nurses, the lunchroom employees, principal, assistant principal, the front office staff, the guidance counselors, and the paraprofessional teaching aides? The list goes on and on and on.

Teachers do need raises but when I look at my children's schools, I thank God for all the rest, too. Like the old saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child.

I find, especially in my youngest child's school, that it's like a family. They all pitch in and do whatever they find best for the child. Yes, start handing out the raises but make sure it's enough to go around for all.

Jamie Van Beek, Holiday

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[Last modified November 12, 2007, 20:36:33]