Letters to the Editor

In this time of recognizing people “on the front lines” during the current situation, I want to recognize the people on the front lines of our grocery stores. For me it is Brookshire’s at Mineola. What an amazing job they have done. Medical people are getting a lot of appreciation and well deserved, but 99% of us aren’t seeing them. But the grocery store staffs are daily serving others that may or may not have the virus. They must be getting weary and tired by now as they are required to direct customers in the procedures for shopping right now and deal with fact that many items are limited.

Brookshire’s revamped the Mineola store recently and it turned out especially helpful for the current distancing practices. The aisles are wider, and it is just more open. And of course the store is always clean.

I want to express my appreciation for each one of you and pray for your rest and health. And for store managers and executives, may God bless you and guide you as you make decisions and adjust to recover from this stressful time.

Vivian Cox,

Mineola

CONDITIONS IN RESTAURANTS

With all the concern following guidelines from the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), we should look at washing our hands with soap and hot water. My wife and I eat out quite often. I listed 30 restaurants in Tyler where we have gone. Out of the 30, only five have hot water in the restroom. When we questioned one manager about his employees not having hot water, he said they use another restroom with hot water. Before we left, some employees used the same restroom we used.

The (CDC) and Tyler health inspectors should make it mandatory for all restaurants to have hot water in the restrooms. They should not be allowed to open without instant hot water in the restroom. Some have hot water if you wait five minutes for it to get hot. Most never get hot. Some even have the host water side turned off.

It is also amazing how many men use the restroom and walk out without washing their hands.

Harold Hollingsworth

Tyler

CONTRADICTION

What is the average citizen to make of COVID-19 and the response to it? Many perspectives exist as to how it originated, its severity, how contagious and dangerous it really is and ultimately what to do about it.

The media portrays a limited perspective on the epidemic with its dire reporting of the current death counts and new cases. It largely neglects to report that the majority of deaths from COVID-19 also had co-morbidities, many of them severe or terminal. Most cases recover, which would include many that aren’t diagnosed.

Has it been prudent to crush the world economy to accommodate the worst case scenario? We have about the same amount of hard data going into this epidemic as previous ones, yet our leaders now deem it necessary to impose Stalin-like controls on the economy and social life.

However dangerous this really is, there are more than a few who are concerned how this will be exploited for personal or political purposes. If our leaders are genuinely concerned about human life, then why is it they generally support abortion on demand and euthanasia for the elderly? Isn’t it a contradiction in reason to impose sanctions to save lives, yet to have previously legalized its destruction? Have our leaders arrogated to themselves the prerogatives of God and placed themselves over us? We may have more reason for concern regarding abuses of our freedom than from the virus itself.

Let’s obey civil authorities and pray this present danger ends soon.

John Schell

Tyler