Letters to the editor March 21
A note to fellow travelers
Having completed my regular Thursday “senior discount day” grocery shopping at Harvest Foods in Bigfork, I turned left onto Montana 35. The 35 mph speed limit makes merging onto the highway relatively easy. As I exited, I saw across the road and a bit to the north, a car leaving the VFW also heading south onto Montana 35. Judging that I had plenty of room, I quickly pulled out and, in deliberate respect to the other driver, quickly accelerated my Sienna minivan to the 35 mph limit.
I checked my rear-view mirror, and although I was a good 30 feet ahead of the other car, I was startled to see through his windshield that he was angrily shaking both upraised middle fingers at me. I sped up to 40, and a bit shaken, I looked to the rear again, noticing that there was at least one other person, perhaps a woman, in his car.
We traveled through Bigfork’s stop light and he turned onto Montana 209 heading towards Ferndale. I continued southward toward home. Aware that I should just shrug off the unpleasant event, nevertheless, I continued to feel disturbed by the encounter.
My experience is not uncommon. I have heard that otherwise good people can behave very aggressively behind the wheel, seeing other drivers as “the enemy.” I did not intentionally provoke this driver, and I do not know if there were some unrelated things in his life which might have contributed to his rage. He did not know that I am a devoted grandmother, a breast cancer survivor, a faithful friend, and a food bank volunteer. I hope that we all might be reminded that we are “fellow travelers,” not only on Montana 35, but also through this strange experience we call life. Kindness always matters.
— Jeanne Welty Southwood, Bigfork
Green light for roundabouts
Several years ago the Danes conducted a thorough study of the safety of intersections. Traffic lights and stop signs were compared with roundabouts.
The results highlighted the safety of roundabouts and the Danes converted all traffic lights and stop signs to roundabouts, which resulted in thousands of lives being saved.
These results deserve close attention.
—Robert O’Neil, Kalispell
Are we there yet?
Have we reached the point of total insanity with how we treat one another, or do we still have another two or three generations yet to go?
When our Congress holds a dog and pony show for a convicted liar to Congress, to further their agenda of trying to insult and embarrass the president of the United States — does that mean we have at least another 18 months of nonstop show and tell? Are we there yet?
When wearing a red ball cap with MAGA on it causes people to go completely nuts and do stupid silly things that get them arrested and probably deported for over-staying their visa — are we there yet? When getting punched in the face on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley for trying to recruit some students to an agenda that you don’t like — that gives you the right to sucker-punch somebody? Are we there yet? When an 80-year-old man is assaulted for wearing that hat — are we there yet?
When a 36-year-old black actor fabricates a story of racial hate to make himself out a victim and promote a possible race war — are we there yet?
How much more of this asinine behavior is it going to take before we reach the point of total annihilation of all civil discourse? Are we there yet?
To quote President Lincoln: A house divided cannot stand.
Are we there yet?
—Jim Garvey, Kalispell
Gun control
It is with great sadness that I read about the mass killings in New Zealand, but I wish to remind folks that it was a person that committed the killing not an inanimate machine called a gun. To turn to gun control for a solution is futile. What they have is a social problem related to hatred for people of a different ethnicity and religion. Social problems cannot be solved by controlling inanimate objects. If the officials of New Zealand just pass a few gun control measures and then forget about it, they accomplish nothing.
After all, what gun law can be written that a person willing to commit murder will respect and obey?
—Gerry Hurst, Marion