Letters  

Letter: Thanks for the hard work

Thanks for the hard work

Thank you to everyone who is working so hard!

I hope that when this crisis is over and our governments have time to think, that they will remember the many people who are helping us all. The medical community, police, firefighters, EMS, hospital support staff, pharmacists, people keeping out grocery stores & pharmacies open, and many many more professions deserve our gratitude and I believe they know they have that, but possibly we owe them more.

Hopefully these people don’t feel forgotten amid the government financial assistance that is being given to the many individuals and businesses that, through no fault of their own, have lost their income and would rather be working.

Possibly frontline workers are getting exhausted and scared and wish they weren’t considered an essential service so they also could stay safely in their homes. We all thank you for continuing to do your job!

Members of Parliament received a raise today while most of them, including our Prime Minister, stay safely at home. I suggest we rescind that raise and financially reward those who are on the front lines and really trying to make a difference! Or even better, spend it on the equipment they need to stay safe.
 

Louise Willerton

Letter: Did you consider?

Did you consider?

Re: Vacation 1, Students 0

Did you maybe consider that you may not have had adequate information before you bothered writing your negative, critical, ignorant, and irritating letter?  Who are you to dictate that teachers should or shouldn’t be entitled to their vacation time with their families?  Have you considered that many of them actually worked through their holiday to prepare for online learning in the coming weeks?  I’m guessing no. In fact, I know of many teachers who gave up their vacation time to put hours and hours of time into preparing for the weeks to come.

Have you considered that it’s not an individual teachers responsibility to solve this issue? Is it possible that the teachers were screaming for online tools to be set up and ready for use but the policies and systems weren’t yet in place for them to use? We don't know.  There is no information to educate us on these questions so criticizing isn’t useful or productive. 

When calling for the NDP government and boards of trustees and BC teachers federation to step in, are you aware of the activities each of these parties were undertaking over the past two weeks?  No. You simply don’t know.  You have no idea what people have been doing behind the scenes to make things happen and yet one full day after spring break ended you’re up on a soap box writing a mean letter that is not substantiated by fact.

You’re simply having a fit because you expected a small miracle in a time of great crisis.  Nobody has failed our children – a deeply disturbing event is occurring across the globe and everyone is working to handle it as best they can. Instead of spending time writing nasty letters to Castanet, how about you offer to help someone out during this difficult and trying time. 

Kristi Avery

Letter: Access to drugs a pain

Access to drugs a pain

Ever wonder why there is stockpiling?

Perhaps the mental giants in Ottawa could stop fear mongering. For example, on Castanet today I read that no less than the Deputy Minister of Health Canada has warned that the COVID-19 will worsen the supply of drugs.

Perfect news for us seniors. But wait here is the kicker.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association is encouraging members to limit patients to a 30 day supply. Doesn’t that mean susceptible seniors will need to go to the drugstore for their prescriptions three times instead of once? That also means three dispensing fees instead on one. We are told to stay home yet are told to venture out more often to get needed prescription drugs. Does that make any sense to anyone?

Also Heath Canada has warned Canadians not to stockpile drugs. How can I stock pile drugs when I need to visit my doctor every time in order to renew? The most I can get, even though I have an ongoing never-get-better condition that will require the same drug until I die, is 90 days.

Why can’t people find a doctor who will accept them as patients? Perhaps the reason is the waiting rooms are full of patients just requiring a refill.

The most maddening phrase is OK Boomer.

You know the response given us older hard working taxpayers ever hear from the enlightened ones like the Deputy Minister. From now on I think I will address them as OK Morons.

Robert Hepting

Letter: Be kind to others

Be kind to others

I read Howie Hewgill's letter in which he points out that a lot of what he, and the rest of us for that matter, are reading and most importantly, how negative a lot of it is.

It's not hard to understand that people are frightened and often, where there is fear, there is anger and it is, for some, natural to want to lay blame, point fingers or generally criticize those who are at the forefront of the situation because that's who they see.

Anger and frustration though are the real enemy here. Nothing positive comes from negative emotion. 

We are going to get through this. we are going to be changed because of it in differing ways spending on our circumstance but we will get through it.

Try to imagine the concern being felt by front line workers. Those who are standing tall to ensure that essential services are still available. 

When you are at the grocery store, maybe say an extra thank you to the cashier who is bravely working for you in that moment. Or the stock person who is diligently trying to keep the shelves full.

The doctors and nurses who are  operating on fumes. They are being faced with scared and angry people who are looking for someone to step up and make it all better but getting frustrated with them because you aren't being seen quickly enough or not getting whatever it is that you feel entitled to isn't helping either them or you.

There are countless examples of people stepping up to help out and if you take the time to see them, you can't help but feel better, even if just a little.

Breweries and distilleries making hand sanitizer. Vets seeing animals outside on the side walk. Businesses who are retooling to try and meet the needs of the community.

Restaurants making home deliveries. Seniors homes whose staff are doing everything they can to ensure that our elder citizens are being looked after in every way possible while keeping them and us safe.

Neighbours picking up supplies for those who are quarantined or who simply can't get out to replenish supplies.

Disaster always seems to bring out the best and the worst in people but if we choose to focus on the positive and the good, we all benefit.

The saying that "by taking care of ourselves, we take care of others" has never been more on point than it is now. 

Take a look in the mirror and smile at yourself. When you get it right, take that smile to the window or to your front yard or to the grocery store and share it with all of us.

I promise, if you smile at me, I will smile right back.

Thank you to our first responders. Our doctors and nurses. Our police. Our grocery store workers. Our care aides. Our governmental officials. (they may not always get it right but they are working tirelessly to try and get it right). Our service providers, truck drivers who are working around the clock to make sure we have the essentials.

There are countless more and they all need uplifting and support from all of us so lets make sure they know how much we appreciate them.

And a special thank you to Bonnie Henry. She is a warrior.

Peter Haslock

Letter: COVID-19 craziness

COVID-19 craziness

It strikes fear and panic in the hearts of otherwise sensible people. It brings out the greed, and me-first attitude that is sadly becoming the norm in our society.

Let's be honest.

The vast majority of the people who read this, and contract this virus, will never know they have it. They are asymptomatic, but still contagious. 

The rest of the infected people get sick. They do not fall over dead in the street, they get ill, and if already compromised by other illnesses, may well die from it.

Everyone else recovers, as they would from the flu, and life goes on.

This is where it gets weird. 

The average citizen is not going to die, or even get sick from this. You are, however, in a position to either help, or kill others. By ignoring instructions, especially as they relate to the elderly, hoarding, and literally fighting your fellow citizens for resources, you have become the problem! 

I would far sooner share my home with a person with the virus, than one who feels that he is so entitled that he buys up the entire supply of meat, or toilet paper at the community grocery store.

We are in this together, like it or not. Viruses have no idea if you are richer, or prettier, or better connected than me.

Smarten up people! At the end of the day you will not be judged on how well you treated yourself, but rather how well you treated others! Be kind to your neighbours. Think before you act. Remember that we we are a community, not a life support system for you!

Harsh as it sounds, our community will be here long after you and COVID have faded from memory, what will you be remembered for?

Bruce Buchstein