About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 13, 2019)
PAGE 11A Send a letter to the editor to P.O. Box 1600, Dawsonville, GA 30534; fax (706) 265-3276; or email to editor@dawsonnews.com. DawsonOpinion WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 This is a page of opinion — ours, yours and others. Signed columns and cartoons are the opinions of the writers and artists, and they may not reflect our views. f of* ol ziLUV6 OPPOS/T/^ JIM POWELL I For The Times Ah, Valentines Day: My least favorite holiday Valentine's Day is probably my least favorite holiday. I have long considered it as just some fictious day created to sell chocolates and greeting cards. In fact, it is one I don’t really consider a real holiday despite the hype telling me otherwise. Maybe it was because this day was not one that gave me fond memories as a child. While other kids eagerly made little containers bedecked with hearts to collect love notes and boxes of conversation hearts from their classmates, I was try ing to come up with a way to miss school. I was willing to risk a trip to the doctor, even if it meant miss ing out on heavily sprinkled heart-shaped sugar cookies. That’s how bad I hated this day; I would miss out on cookies. I would place my little Kleenex box wrapped in pink construction paper with red hearts on my desk and wait. And wait. And wait. For my classmates to come put a little folded card in my box. All of my friends had theirs overflowing with cards within seconds. Mine only had a few. They all were from my female classmates - none of the boys asked me to be their Valentine. SUDIE CROUCH Columnist I was crushed. I didn’t expect anyone to make some grand ges ture of love -1 think I was only in second grade - but it would have been nice to be asked to be someone’s Valentine. This pattern repeated itself all the way to middle school, and then, the real horrors began: flower delivery at school. With just an advancement in grade level. February 14th had expanded from a small cardboard card of disappointment to a grand display of unlovedness. I would watch one by one as friends were called to the office to pick up big vases of red roses. How were these kids affording roses if they didn’t have a job? It made the day even more heartbreaking, as I was usually the only one without any sym bols or trappings of the day. High school was even worse. Some of my friends were going on dates. “It’s not a real holiday,” Mama would comfort me. I knew it wasn’t, but it still kind of stung. “Your granddaddy got you a big heart of chocolate, don’t that count?” Granny would ask. It did count; Pop was my best guy. But one eventually wants someone else to think they are special outside of family on Valentine’s Day. “I hate this day,” I muttered. “I can’t believe it is still celebrated. It has to be the craziest holiday ever.” “No, Columbus Day is maybe worse,” Granny said. “Columbus Day?” “Yes,” she said. “Columbus Day. At least on Valentine's Day. the banks are open and the mail runs. On Columbus Day, all you get a dadblamed mattress sale. How often you gonna need to buy a mattress.” She had a point. “I’d take Valentine’s over that any day,” she added. Of course. Granny would. She had Pop, and while he was not the roses or gigantic card kind of guy, he was known to go out as soon as the stores opened to get the biggest heart-shaped boxes of candy the stores carried for Granny and me. My loathing for Valentine’s Day has carried into my adult life, with the day seemingly get ting more obnoxious with each year. And, then I had a child and was forced to face the aisles cov ered with pink and red hearts. I was urged by him to get at least two boxes to make sure there was plenty of cards and they would be appropriate. He wanted the day of love to be fair and full of harmony. Instead of having a repeat of my grade school days, teachers now send home a class list, so no one is left out. My child took Valentine's Day very seriously when he was smaller. I hoped, deeply, sincere ly, that now that he was in middle school this holiday would be ignored. In many ways, it is. There are no little cards to address and fold, nor sticking suckers into the little tabs, or bedazzling a Kleenex box for a Valentine container. And somehow, I found myself missing it. Maybe the day I had always loathed became the day I tolerat ed a little bit better. But Columbus Day. complete with its mattress sales and bank closings, is on its way to the top position. Sudie Crouch is an award win ning humor columnist and author of the recently e-published novel, "The Dahlman Files: A Tony Dahlman Paranormal Mystery." Update from the Gold Dome: Week 3 Despite a shortened week due to the prediction of inclement weather, things are moving right along here at the Capitol. Jan. 28 marked the beginning of committee meet ings, where bills are first heard, amended and voted on. Once the “snow” day had come and gone, we returned to the Senate chamber to get back to business. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to meet in com mittees and start to hear bills on the Senate floor. Along with attending com mittee meetings, I continued my work on two pieces of leg islation I introduced at the beginning of session address ing the deployment of broad band and 5G technology. Senate Bill 2 would allow EMCs to provide internet ser vices and broadband to their customers, in addition to sup plying electrical energy. The corporations would be able to provide these additional servic es either directly or indirectly through a broadband affiliate. Senate Bill 17, the “Rural Telephone Cooperative Act,” mirrors the language in Senate Bill 2 and would allow tele phone cooperatives to provide internet services and broad band to their customers. By enabling EMCs and tele phone cooperatives to deploy these services, we can create a competitive marketplace and expand broadband access to all Georgians. These two bills are just the beginning of my efforts to achieve my number one pri ority for the session - bringing broadband access to those who do not have it and expanding access for those in areas where quality is limited. Both of bills have been assigned to the Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee. I look for ward to working with my col leagues on the committee, our STEVE GOOCH Columnist members and all interested parties on moving these bills through the legislative process. It is my goal to have both of these bills signed into law this year. I am confident that this goal can be achieved as Gov. Brian Kemp echoed the priori ty to expand broadband access in his State of the State address. I was honored last week to have been appointed by Gov. Kemp to serve on the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Overview Committee. This committee is charged with ensuring Georgians’ safe ty while moving across and around the metro area, and I do not take this responsibility lightly. In this role, and in my role as vice chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, I look forward to achieving great things for Atlanta’s, and Georgia’s, trans portation systems this session. As always, it is an honor to serve the 51st Senate District of Georgia, thank you for your continued trust in me. Please call or email me with any questions, comments or con cerns you have as we move through the next 33 legislative days. I look forward to hearing from you. Sen. Steve Gooch serves as Majority Whip of the Senate Majority Caucus. He represents the 51st Senate District, which includes Dawson, Fannin, Gilmer, Lumpkin, Union and White counties and portions of Forsyth and Pickens counties. He may be reached at (404) 656- 9221 or via email at Steve. gooch@senate.ga.gov. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR The State of the State of this column cannot be overstated My fellow Americans (Yea! Clap! Clap! Clap!). I come today to submit to you my annual State of the Column address. It is with great pride that I tell you that the state of the state of this column cannot be over stated! (Thunderous roar!) In the past year, I have written more than 39,000 words (Clap! Clap!) That, my fellow Americans, is more words than appear in the Gettysburg Address and the Hahira phone- book combined! (Sustained applause!) And unlike the Gettysburg Address and the Hahira phonebook, I used a lot of big words. (Clap! Clap!) Big words impress my friends and confuse my enemies and make my edi tors go to the dictionary to be sure I’m not slipping something by them. (Ha! Ha! Ha!) It was certainly a busy year. Once again, I managed to offend both supercilious liberals and gun-totin’ Bible thumpers in equal parts. (Yea! Yea!) Admittedly, this tends to frustrate those who prefer their political columnists be predictably liberal or conservative. That way they don’t have to think — and neither do the columnists. (Ha! Ha! Ha!). I am pleased to announce a new initiative that will allow for better clarity as to my political opinions. Beginning today, I will arrange for the reader who called me a “bed-wetting liberal” and the reader who called me a “bigot” to get together and compare notes and see if they can come to some mutual understanding. It is my hope that when they do, they will wet-kiss and all will be forgiven. (Sustained applause!) Now, let us talk about the wall. As you know, I have advocated a wall be built on our north ern border from LaFayette to Clayton to curb the influx of loud-talking, know-it-all Yankees who think we live on dirt roads and marry our third cousins. (Ha! Ha! Ha!) As for those already here, it is obvious they will not leave and go back to where it snows 10 months a year and all their buildings are rusted. Therefore, I am proposing that they be required to swear allegiance to grits, collard greens and sweet tea. (Yea! Yea! Clap! Clap! Clap!) To the west, I will work to see that a wall is constructed from Dalton to Donalsonville to deter Nick Saban (Boo! Boo!) from infil trating our borders from Alabama each December and ruining the hopes and dreams of the more-deserving young schol ar-athletes ably representing the Red and Black. (Standing ovation! Cries of Woof! Woof!) However, as much as I want these walls built, I will not shut down this col umn! (Another standing ovation!) I am aware of spurious rumors that this column is being influenced by the Russians. I tell you unequivocally 3to npocro nywb cofiaHbfl and anyone who believes other wise can rioqe/iyM mom npoxo/y Heck, I don’t even eat Russian dressing! (fla! fla!) As has been my goal since this column began, I will continue my efforts to eradi cate humor impairment. (Clap! Clap! Clap!) It has not been and will not be an easy task. If anything, humor impairment seems to be on the rise. There are those find nothing humorous in Colin Kaepernick selling lampshades and soap. (Ha! Ha! Ha!) Not to mention legislators who want guns everywhere but the state Capitol. (Boo! Hiss!) Supporters ofYou-Know-Where Institute of Technology find no humor in the fact that the University of Georgia, the oldest state-chartered university in the nation, located in Athens, the Classic City of the South, has more Rhodes Scholars than they have green space. (Ha! Ha! Ha! Woof! Woof! Go, you Hairy Dawgs!) Another focus in 2019 will be continued collaboration with Claude the Whitetail Deer and his colleagues on Jekyll Island to prevent members of the Jekyll Island Authority from shooting them because they eat a few flowers from time-to-time and, therefore, are considered a nuisance. Working closely with Claude, we have so far been able to convince the Jekyll Island Authority that visitors come to Jekyll to see the deer, not them, and if they want to elim inate a nuisance, start with the lawyers. Neither Claude nor I can think of a bigger nuisance. (Sustained applause!) In closing, let me say to you, my fellow Americans, it will be my great honor to serve as your modest and much-beloved columnist another year. God bless you all — unless you are an atheist. God will deal with you later. God bless America. God bless Georgia. God bless com-fiied shrimp. And God, I’m glad to be through with this column. (Thunderous roar!) You can reach Dick Yarbrough atdick@dickyar- brough.com; at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, GA 31139; online atdickyarbrough.com or on Facebook at wvwv.facebook.com/dickyarb. What if We the People are wrong The basic assumption that most people make today is that the wisdom of the majority is always right. But our national government is founded on the notion that the majority of citizens are often wrong. Go read the United States Constitution yourself and you will conclude the same thing. Besides, the national news media is always publishing some kind of poll that says to me that the average citizens must be a looney tune. Every time I read a poll result, no matter what the issue, I shake my head in wonderment. I never trust any poll made by anyone. I sure don’t want anyone making major decisions based on my checking of a little square box because the questions asked are always too simple. My experience as an elected official is very limited but the one thing I learned is that citizens will support decisions if they can take time to understand all the things you were required to consider before you voted the way you did. The average person is busy getting along in the everyday world and has almost no time to dig in on an issue. This may be a function of age. When I was 40 years old, I hardly took time to even look up from my work and trying to help my wife raise two children. Now I read the news a lot and spend time think ing about the issues of the day. I think that the founders were hoping if they fashioned a complicated system with lots of people in it, decision making would slow down and people of wisdom and experience would have a chance to steer the majority to the best solution. I have been around long enough now to know that the majority is often wrong but that only a fool will insist on trying to force the majority down a path they are not willing to go. Often times the best solution is to wait on an issue and hope the majority changes its mind. The American people have sent a lot of new people to Washington. Some are as dumb as a stump and some are as out of control as a gallon of gas poured in my wood stove. We sent them there by majority vote. I rest my case. Gary Pichon Marble Hill
