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© St. Petersburg Times, published June 1, 2001
Editor: I was shopping at a Winn-Dixie grocery store today -- as I do at least twice a week -- and upon grabbing my shopping cart, I walked past the customer service desk. I asked the young lady for a carton of cigarettes, which she promptly retrieved and came back with. Upon seeing my shopping cart with which I had intended to do more shopping, she stuffed the carton under the counter and informed me that I could pick them up on my way out.
Sorry, customer, don't trust you one bit. Two weeks ago I stopped in Wal-Mart in Dade City and did my usual shopping. On the way out the door a woman stopped me, insisted I set my Wal-Mart bags full of Wal-Mart merchandise down on the sidewalk so that I might show her my receipt for my purchases. This woman reviewed my receipt, did not look at anything in the bags, asked me a few questions and gave me permission to leave.
Sorry, customer, don't trust you one bit.
I am a middle-class, clean-cut individual who happens to shop at these stores regularly and have done so for years. I don't know how the rest of the population feels, but I am tired of being treated like a criminal when I have never had anything more serious than a minor traffic ticket. I fully understand that retail theft is a problem of magnitude with major store chains such as Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie. But I am tired of reaping the heaping due to the sins of others.
-- Jay C. Brown, Dade City
Editor: Our tax-happy commissioners are at it again. Tax increase to add more parks. Of the residents 65 years and older, how many use these parks? Again, we pay for the out of towners to use them.
Rather than impose a tax, why not charge an entry fee for those who use them? I recall some years back, while visiting in West Palm Beach, there was a beach that charged $10 per person to enter.
The trouble with our commissioners is they think the good times will last forever. History has a way of repeating; and when the big crash comes and the people lose their savings, where will the tax money come from then? Wise up, you can only pick so much fruit from the tree.
-- Walden B. St. Germain, Hudson
Re: This judge lacks judicial sensibility, May 24 letter.
Editor: Guess what? That wanna-be meets all the requirements for actually becoming a judge!
Welcome to the real world where judges will do as they please, with all the attendant arrogance and contempt they can muster to show that they are the boss in their courtroom and "we, the people" be damned!
Unless we, the people, get off of our collective behinds and assert our rightful powers, these black-robed wonders will just go on deconstructing the judicial system as we know it.
Term limits sound good to me, but only in the hands of we, the people.
-- Katherine Sandak, New Port Richey
Editor: The government can spend millions on space programs, foreign affairs, etc., yet they cannot produce a prescription drug program that will help their citizens. From the cradle to the grave, each citizen should be entitled to coverage at an affordable price. The following gives insight as to what we are facing.
Doctor to patient: Why don't you take your pills I ordered? You need one for the high cholesterol, the one for thyroid, and the expensive one for stroke prevention.
Patient to doctor: Egad! I would have to win the Lotto to afford these pills. High priced? You bet! Thousands of people are giving up their prescriptions as they can't afford them and are buying over-the-counter items, hoping they will work.
Doctor: It is dangerous and sad. You have my sympathy, but my hands are tied. You will have to stir up your congressmen and government.
Patient to doctor: My final answer is from the day you are born to the day you die, all citizens should be able to have prescriptions at an affordable price. Let's not lie down and give up, but gang up on the government and demand action! Let's make it a prescription-drug price war.
Ending this with a sad story of what's going on. My friend, a single mother, lay in her bed critically ill. Her 6-year-old son pleaded with her "Mom, please get some medicine, I love you and want you to get well." She answered, "Dear boy, I can't afford the medicine. It costs $5 a pill. We have to keep food on the table; and with the other medicines I'm taking, if I get this one, we won't eat." The boy answered, "But Mommy, I will eat very little so you can buy it." Mom gave him a hug with a tear in her eyes, and the next day she passed away.
Dear little boy, where do we go from here? We feel your loss and hope someone up there in the high ranks of government will read this and put up the fight to a prescription drug program. So many, so ill, please listen!
-- Janet M. Jones, Hudson
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