Newspaper Page Text
August 27, 2008
c; Reporter
PAGE 5A
On the outside looking in
Headline,
comments
and email
M aybe I am just old-fashioned along with a lot
of other senior citizens. I get very uncomfort
able when television advertisements urge me
talk to “my”
physician/doctor about
and tout remedies for such maladies
as bladder control, diarrhea, erectile
dysfunction, birth control and “ time of
the month”. I thought those things
were “private”. We are supposed to
call “your” doctor because the medica
tion he/she prescribed is causing your
hair to fall out, can’t sleep, waking
up in the middle of the night more
than twice, something lasts longer
than four-hours or such-or-such
medication is making our in-grow
ing toe-nails itch.
So, I was surprised when this
newspaper revealed “Birth control method catching on.” If
you didn’t read the article, dig your paper out of the trash
or read it on-line at mymcr.net.
In essence, the author put the sole responsibility of birth
control on the female! Never was the word abstinence or
male responsibility for birth control mentioned. So, Will
don’t be surprised if you and The Reporter are blared out as
being sexist or whatever the term or label is applied when
the total responsibility for birth control is the implied total
responsibility of the female because you reported “the
news”.
Will, as a PS, you just might get blamed for a declining
birth rate for your informative ”how not to” article or possi
bly an increase in birth rates by those who don’t read The
Reporter.
A NEW county administration building should be a top
priority for the Monroe County commission. The more con
troversial the topics—water, paving, zoning and taxes-that
come before the commission, the number of taxpayers
increases to the point that I am not surprised the local fire
marshal—if we have one—doesn’t show up and close down
the meeting until some of the crowd disperses.
Here are some comments made by a couple of taxpayers
who were in the crowd of 50-plus at the last commission
meeting:
“All I wanted was a little bit of paving;”
“I realize I am only a four-year resident of the county;’
“Dust on county roads threatens the life of livestock;”
“I don’t even rely on your law enforcement;”
“I hear a county employee lives on the road and doesn’t
want it paved;”
“Just earmark my tax money to move the poles.”
If you haven’t guessed, those were comments made by a
couple of taxpayers wondering why their road hasn’t been
paved and included this classic comment: “Visit Monroe
County—the New Tennessee”. What about it Chamber of
Commerce tourism director?
Here a couple of unattributed comments made by commis
sioners:
“Couldn’t get rid of him. He came right back;
“Just like a lawyer. No heritage.”
E-MAILS you’ll enjoy. This one was forwarded to me and
may be in The Reporter Blog. “If Carlisle loses in November,
it could be a good thing. Then he would have two years off
and he could run against Bilderback and nobody would be
losing. I remember Carlisle spoke at that Forsyth forum
about how much power he really didn’t have. So, this would
give him that district commissioner power again. Wish
Carlisle would consider that.”
And this e-mail in reference to the Bolingacon fire station:
“The reason Bilderback didn’t purpose the rebuilding was
he has no idea what is going on in Bolingbroke! He is too
busy thinking about something new to whine about. I think
Evans wasn’t thinking too hard about the convict labor
either. If these convicts could do construction work, they
would not be ‘convict labor’. This was typical for most gov
ernment contracts. Low ball the bid and then design it to be
cost plus. If you decide not to finish the contract the origi
nal monies are lost.”
In response to the kudzu column, this e-mail: “Enjoy your
column. It is a voice of sanity in what I call a ‘County of
Low Expectations’. I am more of an ‘Outsider Looking In’
than you may be. I bought some acreage for investment and
recreation more than thirty-five years ago and I visit it
almost weekly.
“Herbicide dangers. I worked as a foreman for one of the
early right-of-way contractors in 1949-52 and we sprayed
AT&T lines with 2-4-D defoliant. In the process I was often
drenched with this precursor to Agent Orange. Forty years
later I was diagnosed with a rare form of Leukemia.
Fortunately I have been cancer free for fifteen years”.
In reference to the land he owns, the e-mailer wrote this:
“I have been calling attention for three years to erosion
from a new subdivision that has been polluting the creeks.
So far I have gotten nowhere in getting corrective action by
the developer on an ongoing lack of maintenance to anti
erosion measures. Have followed protocol and contacted the
county official responsible and also the EPA.
“I also copied my commissioner by mail. He has yet to
answer my letter, he apparently has no e-mail address, nor
does he answer phone messages left with the secretary cov
ering for the commissioners. Is this 2008 or what?
“I am not an econut but I do know a lack of care for the
environment when I see it.”
GHOST RESIDENTS: Here’s the question of the week
since Monroe County is one of the fastest growing places in
the United States—twenty-second— according to the latest
census report as reported last week: of the 10,062 homes in
Monroe County, how many are for sale, been foreclosed or
just sitting vacant?
Donald Jackson Daniel is the founder and former publish
er of The Reporter. He does not have an office at The
Reporter but can be contacted at tullaybear@bellsouth.net.
Around the Bend
Even when there’s no doubt, pray
“Evening and morning, and at
noon, I will pray and cry
aloud; and He shall hear
my voice.”
Psalms 55:17
G od tells us to
pray about
everything. Not
one place in the
Bible does it
say to only pray about
the things that are re
ally, really big. God
doesn’t say, “OK, now,
try to figure this out on your own
and when you’ve got it really
messed up, call me.”
He said we should go to Him
before trying to fix it ourselves. We
should go to Him before we make
any decision.
Thankfully, when we do mess
things up, He is still there for us
with open arms. He’s pretty great
that way.
As humans, and especially as
Americans, we have this mentality
that submission equals weakness.
However, some of the strongest
people I know are not mean or
tough. They are Godly. It
takes a lot more strength
to give in to God than to
“work it out on our own.”
Believe me, I know.
PRAYER WORKS. It
just does. It works in
ways I never imagined. I
don’t always get every
thing I pray for, but
through prayer I
receive blessings I
never knew I needed.
I am drawn closer to Him.
In my young life, I prayed at
night when I went to bed. I would
unload my heart and beg for bless
ings. “Now I lay me down to
sleep....”
But, over the last few years that I
have come to realize the impor
tance of constant prayer. I now find
myself in a persistent attitude of
prayer.
At times I feel selfish asking God
to help me find my car keys when
there is so much turmoil in the
world. How could I possibly burden
Him with something as trivial as
finding my keys or my shoes or the
T.V. remote controls? However,
everything is trivial to God. I still
get a little thrill every time I ask
Him to help me find my shoes and
He does. It’s so cool.
OF COURSE I do pray about the
big stuff too. I cannot imagine how
anyone ever gets through any trial
in their life without prayer.
I am nowhere near perfect. I am
nowhere near where I need to be
with God. I am constantly taking
one step forward and two steps
back. It takes a constant effort to
maintain a relationship with Him.
The devil is always waiting around
every corner to trip me up.
But I know He hears me and
understands me like no other ever
will. And in a world that is full of
spite and gossip and sadness, it’s
nice to have Him on my side.
Gina Herring may be reached at
ginaherring@bellsouth.net.
5^
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Peanuts: Better safe than sorry
To the editor:
hank you for your article
about peanut allergies,
“Hubbard parents urged:
No peanut products,” in
the Aug. 20 Reporter. We
need as much awareness of this
problem as possible. Our
grandaughter, 7 year old, Abby
Kitchens is extremely allergic to
peanuts, yes we all have an epipen,
whereever she goes.
Her Mother has been very dili
gent in teaching her to ask if
peanuts are included in receipes
when eating away from home,
either at school or in other enviro-
ments. She has a little sister Mia,
whom is not allergic to peanuts,
but because she has heard her sis
ter ask so many times about
peanuts, that she also ask. They
both will say "we like peanuts, but
they make us very sick".
Peanut "flour" is found in most
"slice and bake" cookies, when
Abby was just a little thing, my
daughter, Lee, was slicing the cook
ie dough and was letting Abby put
them on the cookie sheet, but just
touching the cookie dough, Abby
became very ill, including breath
ing problems, as well as breaking
out of the skin, thus, no more slice
and bake cookie baking that includ
ed the children helping.
I know it is a hardship for many
parents not to use peanut butter in
lunches and even though our
granddaughter knows she is aller
gic to peanuts, there may be a
young child that does not know
that they have a peanut allergy,
and it is always better to be safe
than sorry.
Greta and Brooks
Livingston
Forsyth
Living with peanut allergy
To the editor:
A bout the article in the
Aug. 20 Reporter,
“Hubbard Parents
urged: No peanut prod
ucts.” I am a parent of
one of the children that suffers
from severe peanut allergies. My
wife and I were very disheartened
by the article, and some of the com
ments made by parents and staff of
the Monroe County Board of
Education. One of the things that
disheartens me most is that we live
in a world surrounded by people
who no longer care for the good of
another person. It seems that our
only interests revolve around our
own conveniences, and only what
affects us personally. However, I
wonder how “insane” it would be if
it were their child that was being
sequestered from their peers for
the rest of the school years.
Our child was diagnosed with
peanut allergies at 18 months
when he tried to eat peanut butter
toast. After eating one bite, he
began itching uncontrollably, and
his airway began to close. This was
evidenced by a whistling sound
that is made similar to someone
choking, and he could not catch his
breath. He was taken to the hospi
tal by ambulance, and was treated
for an anaphylactic reaction. We
could have lost our son that night,
but thank God my wife was smart
enough to call an ambulance. After
this incident, we took our son to
the doctor to find our exactly what
caused the reaction. Sure enough,
it was peanuts! At first, my son
was only allergic to peanuts that
he ingested, but his allergy was
getting much worse. We began
noticing over the years that our
son would break out into hives, itch
uncontrollably, and become sick at
his stomach, or begin having prob
lems breathing when he had not
ingested anything with peanuts.
We found out that our son was
being exposed to peanuts and
peanut protein derivatives by walk
ing into places like Chic-Fil-A,
which cook with peanut oil in
enclosed areas.
I would like to educate the com
munity about peanut allergies, and
give you a real vision of what it is
like for my son. The comments
made by Marci Blackwell, EMT,
show that even people with one
year of First Aid education do not
understand the severity of this
allergy. When she made the com
ment “It’s insane for the school to
expect 900 sets of parents to
change their child’s diet instead of
requiring the parents of three kids
with peanut allergies to be more
responsible for what needs to be
done.” Responsibility is a daily task
thanks to parents like Marci
Blackwell who sends her children
to school with peanut butter sand
wiches that could potentially kill
my child if he were to come into
contact with the sandwich, or her
child, after he/she eats the sand
wich and does not wash his hands
and brush his teeth. We are not
talking about a rash, a scrape, or
something that is going to go away.
We are talking about something
that could potentially end my
child’s life.
What people need to know is that
allergic reactions and anaphylactic
reactions are levels of severity to
something that your body views as
poison. My child’s body views
peanuts as poison. When he comes
into contact with peanuts or any
derivative of peanuts he will react,
and depending on the amount of
exposure, his body will fight it to
the appropriate extent, but unfor
tunately this can potentially kill
him. Once a form of peanut has
entered his body, that organ or sys
tem of his body will begin to try
and get rid of the allergen. For
example, if peanut enters the
lungs, his airway will begin to close
and he will begin breathing faster
to rid himself of the allergen. Fluid
will fill his lungs because of the
highly vascular environment of the
lungs, and the bloodstream will
spill its contents into the lungs to
rid itself of the allergen. So not
only does he sense himself choking,
but he is smothering from the over
load of fluid as well. His body sens
es an allergen has entered and will
close it down so that no more can
enter the body. If peanut enters the
stomach, then diarrhea, vomiting,
and cramping will begin. This is
the body’s way of ridding the aller
gen from the stomach. My son’s
teachers have Epi-Pens for emer
gencies, and my son has been given
shots more than he would like to
mention. This is not a life saving
drug, though. Epinephrine is used
to buy him time to make it to a
hospital. After being stuck with an
Epi-Pen hopefully to save his life,
he will need to be rushed to a hos
pital so that he can receive more
shots that will include antihista
mines and steroids. Then, if the
reaction still does not subside he
would have to be placed on a venti
lator to protect his airway.
Anaphylactic reactions are very
serious, and they do not just come
and go with a little cough or itch.
They are very serious, and they
could potentially kill children.
My child is seven years old now,
and I promise you he is probably
more responsible than the average
adult when it comes to his peanut
allergy. He will not eat anything
new without having us read the
labels first, he cannot enjoy birth
day cakes without making sure
that peanut proteins are not baked
inside, he cannot go inside of cer
tain restaurants that use peanut
oil for cooking, and he is not
allowed to eat with his friends at
school, or attend any parties with
friends that the parents either for
got, or just don’t care to respect his
allergies or that it’s simply an
inconvenience to them.
So, with this information I
respectfully thank those parents,
children and school officials that do
respect our son’s allergies. I can
say that the teachers we have dealt
with thus far have been very sup
portive and eager to learn about
our son’s allergies and the Epi-Pen
training. I thank Angie Dillion for
sending out a notice to parents to
respectfully consider my son and
the others that share his allergy.
Unfortunately, we will continue to
live with people that view them
selves as more important, and their
way of thinking is superior to oth
ers. I suppose we will continue to
live in a world where people will
park in handicap zones with no
such limitation, drive past the
stranded that wave in haste, over
look the person that has attained
less than us, and wake up every
morning and send peanut butter to
a school that they know could
potentially kill an innocent child.
Mark A. Webb, RN,
EMT-P
Forsyth