Dear Editor:
According to the news, a gas pipeline is going out of West Virginia. People are upset. Everyone but us gets a lot of benefits. It seems to me that we the people should get some benefits.
One of the benefits should be the hay should be cut each year and used in the national forest or the money from sales should be used. The company that owns the pipeline should cut and sell, or use it in the national forest.
Second, the landowners, whoever these people are, should demand a fee, say of one thousandth (1,000th) of one percent of value of the gas going in the line. Seems fair to me.
I live in Kanawha County. [A gas line] ruptured and some homes burned. The homeowners cannot sell the land. No one wants near this line.
A basketball coach once said, “Three things you should do each day – laugh, cry and think.”
Thanks,
David B. Hall
Pinch
Dear Editor:
This letter is in response to Carl Kelk’s question in his letter to the editor, 8-21-14.
Hey, Carl Kelk, I’ll write the paper. Thanks for asking me to!
Hmmm…“thinking outside the box, good old common sense, and basic values” was your request on August 21, 2014.
How about us living with less, not poor house style, but just back to regular 1950s style. Maybe you can remember when we “only” had one piece of property, one dwelling, one TV set, one radio, one telephone, one vehicle, one bathroom, an inexpensive, close-by vacation, and patches on our jeans that we wore until they were really worn out.
How about living without all the throw-away, use once, no deposit stuff we use today.
Remember back in the 50s when we didn’t use plastic utensils, styrofoam or paper plates and cups, and actually washed dishes? Back then, cloth napkins and cloth diapers were the rage, unlike the paper and plastic use once ones of today. And then there was the deposit on soda and beer bottles because “no deposit – no return” hadn’t been invented yet. Remember as a child having fun making some cash picking up deposit bottles ignorant folks pitched out along the road?
Or, maybe you remember using the one vehicle we had for five – 10 or more years, instead of trading in and up every one to three years like we do today?
Back then we bought made in the U.S.A. goods and food except for some “made in Japan” items. Now we buy, including our food, mostly from China, India, Mexico and other developing nations.
Ouch!
The agricultural chemicals that are banned in the U. S. are legal in most developing countries. That’s scarier than Halloween!
Remember raising a large garden and taking care of it, and our root cellars, fruit jars and freezer would be full each autumn? And we were able to give some of our extra produce away to neighbors and the poor. I don’t mean the baseball bat sized zucchini, squashes, but the good stuff. We didn’t put a price tag on everything like we do today.
How about when we walked more, drove less, and did a bunch of visiting on our porches Truly, I remember those times and it felt great. Besides it was cheap fun.
Our churches and homes were open to the poor and less fortunate. Now everything is locked up and we are immersed in front of our computers, TVs and cell phones.
When we wanted something, we saved up for it and then bought it. Now we want everything immediately, and we purchase it with our credit cards. The result is we become slaves to our debts and have little or nothing for those in need.
Remember when we picked up hitchhikers because we were much less fearful than we are today?
I’ve hitchhiked thousands of miles and it’s painful when thousands of vehicles drive by me while I’m begging. I’ve been drivings since 1966 and have always picked up everybody. No one has ever threatened or harmed me during the excursion. The last hitchhiker was just last month.
I can’t agree with you more concerning our behavior since 9 -11. I could tell you stories that would “knock your socks off” concerning, as you put it, our “running scared ways.”
You mentioned school teachers – been there, done that, back in the 1970s for $9,500 per year. I agree we need to take care of teachers. How about instead of buying that new car, television set, computer, the hamburger at the fast food restaurant or traveling to Myrtle Beach, Dollywood or Florida on vacation, you could start a “kitty” for Pocahontas County teachers we all could contribute to. Even if it didn’t accumulate a million bucks, it would probably put a smile on teachers’ faces. I left a ten dollar bill at The Pocahontas Times office for your first contribution to your “kitty.” Really, it’s waiting there for you next time you are in town.
You also mentioned the problem of disposing of hazardous wastes in the county. I’ve lived in places where, over 40 years ago, we recycled almost everything. Since that time I’ve made one-half a regular trash bag of trash per year. That’s twenty bags full in 40 years. No joke! I have faith Pocahontas County will get on board with some of the other counties in the U. S. A. that have been very concerned about the environment for almost a half a century. Until then, please don’t put your hazardous wastes in the regular trash.
Monetarily, I contribute to the county firefighters and emergency workers. I hope you do, too. Not just a couple of bucks, but let’s do without something and splurge on them! I think they do a commendable job.
And the proposed gas pipeline: If me and you would seriously cut back on our energy use and consumptive lifestyle, like back to 1950s style, there wouldn’t be a need for, as you wrote, “ a lot of people rallying around against it.” The pipeline wouldn’t be necessary because we’d already have way too much energy hanging out waiting to be used. And we’d have a bunch of time and money to give away to those in need.
I’m glad you asked for outside the box, common sense, and basic values, because I’ve got one more idea for you.
Whether you attend church or not, maybe you could plan for and give away 10 percent, 20 percent, 30 percent or more of your income every year to those in need.
The world will be a better place because of your compassions.
I once saw a billboard that read, “Compassion equals love in action.”
Thanks again for asking me to write the paper.
I wish you well, brother.
Sincerely,
Don Vermilyea
Burlington