Reader had it figured out

April 23, 2007

Dear Sir,

It’s a credit to your publication that you printed letters from both sides of the cruise ship issue, but wow! Reader C.K. Simons just has it all figured out. Or does he/she? First, who said children from same-sex families grow up to be “emotionally maladjusted?” Many gay couples end up adopting children from emotionally maladjusted heterosexuals — drug addicts, rape victims, the mentally ill, battered women, the indigent, and women who “abandoned” or “tried to dispose of” their children, just to name a few. Gays don’t corner the market on passing emotional maladjustment on to their children.

“All human prejudices and phobias served us well thousands of years ago, but they still haunt modern society. They are not going to go away any time soon...” Two world wars, “ethnic cleansings” in Germany (i.e. the Holocaust)/Kurdistan/Darfur, decades of South African apartheid, race riots in California, lynch mobs in the American South, religious and civil unrest in Israel/Palestine, Iraq, and Afghanistan. I’d call that more than just “haunting”. Isn’t it enough already? Surely several hundred gay people wanting to stop at an island for a few days pales in comparison.

Or maybe not, because people shouldn’t “practise any particular behaviour pattern in the presence of those who dislike it”. Right, so no children playing in the sand/ocean, walking through the streets and open air markets, or eating in restaurants and cafes with their parents “cause that’s just not right — no proper Bermudians do that. I’m guessing that reader Simons is somehow alluding to behaviour of a sexual nature and that heterosexual Bermudians don’t want to see homosexuals engaging in sexual activity. That implies that Bermuda allows public fornication, which I’m guessing it doesn’t, and that homosexuals can’t stifle their urges long enough until returning to the privacy of their ship’s stateroom, which (sorry to shatter stereotypes) they can. Meanwhile, see the letter from “A Bermudian Doing Actual Good Deeds” in the same issue which describes (albeit subjectively) Carnival in Trinidad — somehow “raunch” is acceptable —— or at least tolerated? We may not be able to legislate prejudice, but we can sure stop it in its tracks. All it takes is for one person at a time to accept someone who’s different from them. Is C.K. Simons up to that challenge, or will he/she continue to use evolution as an excuse?

DAVID THALER

San Francisco, California

Island must move on

April 22, 2007

Dear Sir,

I have read with interest both sides of the equation regarding the clinic, but felt I could not sit silent when it comes to allegations of racism in the clinic. I worked with Dr. Morley Nash in the 1980s and watched as he peeled several layers of clothing off the old ladies in order to examine them. So many corsets and vests presented quite a challenge sometimes. Dr. Nash would examine his patients and when he had dealt with their medical problems he would cut their toenails! Is there any other doctor in Bermuda who did that? (I exclude the chiropodists!)

I don’t know the motives of the original founders of the clinic as I was not here, but Dr. Nash took the old and unwashed sometimes, and treated them with dignity and love. When he died I waited patiently for some meaningful accolades, but saw very little. His picture is in the hallway of the hospital but it should have been blazoned all over the newspapers as a hero of Bermuda for this was a giant of a man. It is so easy to cry racism and patronisation against every thing but my suspicion was none of the doctors really wanted poor old patients cluttering up their nice fancy waiting rooms. They still don’t. Gentlemen and ladies of the medical profession you are quite an elitist lot and we poor mortals know it! The way you walk through the hospital with your eyes downcast shows this!

My message is look for good in all people. Bermuda was a nasty racist place but now we have to work things out and harping on the past is not helpful to young people who have the self confidence of never having been second class citizens. I keep hearing that people have to know their history but in fact it is not history alone, but a catalogue of past hurts from older people who can’t seem to move on. I feel your pain, as it is mine too, but young people relate no more to it than they relate to Elvis Presley. Since there are many non-emergency medical patients that clutter up the emergency department why don’t they channel non-emergency cases there to get their medical treatments? Many hospitals have such clinics and they are always busy and save money.

OUTSIDE LOOKING IN

City of Hamilton

Bermuda’s false advertising

April 23, 2007

Dear Sir,

I wish you would write about all of the adopted children that would otherwise have no home if not for their “gay” parents. I am a mother of a very normal straight 16-year-old who is disappointed that we are not going to Bermuda. I am a Lesbian. I am much more. I am a mom, a good neighbour, sister, friend, relative. I run a not for profit that helps homeless people. I feel sorry for your people. They are scared of a loving caring and nurturing community. Whose dollar will you not want next because they are not just like you? Asian, Jewish, Greek, mixed race, hmm.

I am going to make sure that all of my straight friends now what a kind and God loving nation you are. The Bible says love thy neighbour. It doesn’t say only the ones that you share the same values you do. No, we will not come to Bermuda. You might have won one battle. The war is far from over. The war against ignorance and discrimination that rages on until there is acceptance and understanding for each person’s infallible right to live as they choose. “All are welcome” is your motto. That is a fraud, as is all of the advertising you do in America!

CHERYL MORAN

New York City

Improve the ferry service

April 24, 2007

Dear Sir,

“Sorry boss the ferry was late.” “Sorry boss the ferry didn’t show up.” How many times do you think my bosses are going to believe this? Once every few months? Yes, if I had to tell them once every few months that’s the reason I’m late for work they probably would believe me. Unfortunately, I find myself telling them this multiple times a month.

As a regular ferry user either from Somerset or Rockaway I’m trying to hear the call for people not to drive into Hamilton and ease the problem of traffic congestion. However, how long can I do this before I am fed up with the regular inconsistency of the ferry and apparent inability of the boat to show up on time for any sustained period? I need to be at work for 8.30 a.m. simple as that.

Admittedly, I far prefer riding the ferry to work than sitting in traffic, as it is a quite relaxing experience, when it is on time. In addition, the boats themselves are a vast improvement to the older model ferries and are far more comfortable. Our Government is talking of taking cars away, well no problem, do what you have to do. I fully realise this island is only so big and we can only sustain this growth for so long before we reach a breaking point. However, to have that plan work effectively you need to offer a reliable alternative to commuters and not one that runs on “Bermuda time”.

So what’s the problem? Have we been sold boats with inherent mechanical problems (the most common excuse we get when the ferry doesn’t show or is running late)? Are there staffing problems? Is there not an adequate maintenance program in place? At the end of the day I don’t care what the problem is, just sort it out please. I don’t even know why I bothered writing this letter, maybe as a means to vent. I’m already fully aware that the times of “entitlement” are over. So, who am I to think that we should be entitled to a reliable ferry service?

DON’T WORRY BOSS I’M ON THE WAY

Somerset

End collective hypocrisy

April 24, 2007

Dear Sir,

Now that “United By Hate” has successfully cancelled Rosie’s gay cruise, I invite them to show impartiality and ban all fornicators and adulterers from their congregations. Since the majority of people one meets, one does not actually have sex with, perhaps the UBH can explain the relative importance of whether someone is actually gay or not? Does something go on in those long services that the rest of us don’t know about? Also, If sinning cruise boat passengers are that high up on UBH’s hit list, then I’d like to ask them where they have been ever since the cruise industry started.

It is widely known that many passengers on these vacations attend the ‘money tables’, and partake of the ‘devil’s water’ — and don’t get me started about gluttony! I’d hazard a guess that there is some extramarital cross-pollination going on too with some passengers. Why didn’t they take action long ago to protect us from these deadly sins? Wasn’t this also “incompatible with the Word of God?”

UBH might like to look among their own flocks this weekend and estimate how many pregnant teens there are in attendance, or how many people recently had a nip of Gosling’s best. Let’s not forget those who may have had “relations” outside of the sanctity of marriage. Lordy, Lordy, Lordy, the collective haters know that their collection plates would be entirely empty if they were to ban all these folks! So let’s stop this ‘selective hypocrisy’ now. In this sinner’s humble opinion, it is about as un-Christian as you can get. You truly are “United By Hate”.

SUNDAY RIDER

Paget