The following is what our readers sounded off about this week:
Go somewhere else
I'm calling in reference to "How silly of Illinois." First of all, are you that out of touch that you believe that Illinois is the only state in the union that has this problem, with people cheating our system? People who freeload our system hurt the families who truly need help. And it is not the child's fault that he or she is getting free meals. That was a statement that was uncalled for and cold-hearted. Children have no control over what their parents do. If you're not happy in Illinois, go somewhere else.
Go to the hospital
The person who wrote, if you are a senior citizen on Medicare, [certain] Obamacare doctors will not take you … I am not on Medicare. I have been paying my own health insurance for the past eight years, since I've been living in St. Charles. The reason for that is I changed jobs. Surprise, and then you get laid off. For all senior citizens, who are on Medicare, if your doctor does not take you because of Obamacare, go straight to convenient care, or go straight to the hospital.
This time for sure
By now, you may or may not have noticed that I am not your regular mail carrier any longer. After my last embarrassing moment of telling all my mail customers goodbye and going to a different route – only to go back to my old route a week later – I decided this time to use this media to say goodbye and thank you to all of the people I've grown to know and love over the last 17 years on my St. Charles mail route. A Geneva driving route became available, and for my body's well-being, I needed to make a switch. I've been on it a couple of weeks now, and though I dearly miss my St. Charles customers – and my dogs – I feel this was the right move for me, for my last two years before retiring. Hopefully our paths will cross around town. Look for me. I'm always on the lookout for my old friends. Take care, it's been a wonderful 17 years. Your old mail carrier, Nancy.
Lock them up
In light of all the controversy involving gun control, please remember that guns don't kill people, people kill people. Think carefully before allowing people into your home, and if you do, be sure to lock [the guns] up.
Iconic founding fathers
While gun advocates are entitled to exercise their constitutional right, I don't believe the founding fathers envisioned that some members of this self-proclaimed militia would be using the general population for target practice on a regular basis. But then again, these same iconic founding fathers have also been described as slave-owning oppressives of women's rights who regularly eliminated the local Native American inhabitants who had the audacity to occupy our land before we arrived. These seem to be rather dubious – if not hypocritical – activities for charter members of the nation supposedly created under God. You will not find this dirty laundry generally exposed in our educational process. Our history of ignoring or defending with some lame form of righteousness those things that are detrimental to our cause, does not help solve the problems they create.
Don't make stuff up
I know that gun advocates are capable of hearing. They seem to hear the NRA just fine. However, when anyone suggests any type of rules or regulations on guns, they seemed to hear only through an NRA-generated filter. I am a staunch advocate of limiting assault rifles, limiting the size of bullet clips and manufacture of handguns entirely. I don't care if people own weapons for hunting or skeet shooting, and I would not, repeat not, confiscate anyone's gun or advocate doing so. In fact, I would strongly oppose any effort to confiscate anyone's gun. No major gun-control groups take the position that we should take anyone's gun from them. So, gun supporters, I am more than willing to respect your position in a logical argument, but you can't just make stuff up about people like me.
More ideas?
This is in response to the Sound Off about the classroom shooter. I think that was really good about having the 20 first-graders or kindergartners push their desks toward an assailant with an assault rifle. That was a fabulous idea, and I'd like to know if the caller has any more ideas like that.
Let's solve real problems
I find it amusing that people would sue Subway over a 1-inch shortage in their sub sandwiches, when, if they would just walk around the stores, they would find out that 2-by-4 pieces of lumber are not 2 inches by 4 inches. They're shorter than that, and they're smaller than that. Because people use an approximation, you're going to say that because you didn't get another inch of bread that you've suffered a loss? Don't we have better things to do than to file lawsuits over such little things? And if you're going to sue over an inch of bread, then why don't sue over 2-by-4s that are not 2 inches by 4 inches? Why shouldn't we sue the government over its failure to give us what they say they're giving us, like a tax cut that ends up to be 2 percent more on a paycheck? Let's get real, people. We have real problems. Let's solve real problems.
• You can sound off, as well, by calling our Sound Off line at 630-845-5240 or by sending an e-mail to soundoff@kcchronicle.com. Calls must be limited to 1 minute or less.
