Consider this: Thursday (yesterday) traffic at Crow Lane at 5.30 p.m. Tons of cars on their way westward. Two particular cars are part of this scenario. Car number one carries a mature white woman driver and a child. Car number two carries a young black male driver and two friends -- one male and one female.

One car is coming out of Hamilton and is in the flow of traffic. One car is coming from Point Finger Road and is waiting to get into the traffic. The driver coming from Point Finger Road decides to risk life and limb and proceeds to force their car into the flow of traffic and onto the roundabout.

Why would they attempt this move that is against the rules of the road? I can only guess. Maybe they were tired of waiting to get onto the roundabout -- sometimes you can sit there for a long time. Maybe they felt they owned the road -- sometimes we all feel that. But no matter why they did it, they did proceed to force themselves into the flow of traffic at 5.30 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon.

To make matters worse, as the driver did this, they shouted angrily to the driver of the oncoming car (who by the road code did not have to let them in) -- "Stop and let me in''. At this point the oncoming car has to stop or they will hit the car forcing its way into the traffic and cause an accident that could involve all the cars behind them. Once in the traffic the driver of the car that forced itself into the traffic did not thank those who had let them in.

In this scenario of the two cars, one with a young black male driver and his friends and one with a mature white woman driver and a child, we have lessons to learn. The young black male driver with his friends is driving the car that stops to let in the car driven by the mature, white woman, who at this time angry, impolite and considerable reckless.

The lessons? 1) Road rage and recklessness are not confined to any age group, skin colour, or gender and 2) we really should not stereotype anybody.

I am proud to say that my son was that young black male driver who let this other car in. I was the female `friend' in the car that day.

I would prefer not to have my name written in the paper -- young people get extremely embarrassed when their parents put them in the spotlight, positively or negatively.

CAR PASSENGER Not worth the hoopla? September 28, 2000 Dear Sir, Are the Olympics worth all of the hoopla? A Cuban `coke freak' is allowed to enter the High Jump (no pun intended) and a Romanian gymnast loses her golden medal because the team doctor prescribes cold medicine.

The entire Olympic organising committee needs to be overhauled or moth-balled.

The existing Olympic organisation could not muster one cup of decency if you placed the entire organisation in a Cuisinart (blender).

Between the drugs and the payola is seems the present Olympic hierarchy could easily be confused for a Colombian drug cartel. I personally don't mind these low lifes who are presently running the Olympics except they actually have the audacity to look down on pot smokers. Most of the pot smokers I know wouldn't socialise with these types. Why should world class athletes have to kow-tow to them? Only former athletes who experienced the Olympics should be allowed to run them. All of those people who have never shared the Olympic experience should not be allowed to set the standards because the present crowd appear to have no standards.

SPANISH POINT VOTER Advice not `appropiate' September 27, 2000 Dear Sir, I should like to use the letters column in your newspaper to draw attention to a large advertisement which has been running in all of the local papers concerning animal waste disposal.

In this advertisement, the public is told: "If you own an animal (specifically a dog or cat) please help us by disposing of animal waste in one of the following manners -- A) Bury the waste in the garden'' and there is a tasteful drawing of a human hand with a shovel of earth, covering the artist's rendition of -- presumably -- dog or cat faeces.

Unless you are absolutely sure that your domestic companion animal is absolutely free of intestinal parasites, this is absolutely the least appropriate way of dealing with the bowel movement, and will surely lead to the rapid contamination of your property, and result in a definite health hazard to humans, in particular small children and immune compromised adults.

The reason is, that the three most prevalent parasites in Bermuda, namely Toxocare canis (Round worm), Ankylostoma caninum (hookworm) and toxoplasmosis, can all be preserved for literally years, even decades, in soil, until conditions are appropriate for their life cycles to continue, or until and appropriate vector, intermediate host, or alternative host comes along. These are also abundant in the Bermuda outdoors and examples of these are mice.

Exposure to the UV rays and intense drying power of sunlight will destroy the eggs and intermediate free larval stages of hookworm, but a damp layer of soil will allow them to hatch into larvae and preserve them until the next dog or human presents any skin contact. After penetrating the skin, the larval stage will progress through a dog or cat via the blood stream until eventually the lungs are reached. Once there, they will ascend to the back of the throat, and be swallowed into the GI tract to complete the adult and reproductive stage of the infection. Eggs are then shed again with the faeces. In humans, which are not the natural host, a skin rash may develop, or a larva migrates or larva which cannot progress beyond the blood stream. Roundworm of the dog and cat can both pose a threat as larvae migrates in humans, although the infection must be from eggs via the oral route, certainly not unthinkable where children playing outdoors are concerned.

Toxoplasmosis is thoroughly endemic in Bermuda, and interestingly, it is NOT the domestic animal which presents the main source of infection to humans, but the soil or undercooked beef. Toxoplasmosis is a protozoon, or one-celled animal. It lives in the intestines of immune-compromised animals, and reproduces there in the cells of the host. Once an intestinal cell has been invaded and used for the purpose of producing hundreds of cysts, these oocysts are expelled with the faeces. If the oocysts find nice damp soil, they go through a further maturing phase called sporulation, which takes at least 48 hours! Two days! After this time in the nice damp earth, the toxoplasmosis has become able to infect a new host. The well-cared-for, healthy house cat with a litter tray which is emptied daily, poses absolutely no threat to human health...kittens' faeces buried in the garden certainly do.

Naturally, it goes without saying that the healthy animals make for healthy people, which is why all companion animals should be examined by a licensed veterinarian at least annually, with all puppies and kittens given regular stool screenings and appropriate treatments during examinations. A veterinarian will prescribe the correct and effective treatment for our domestic animal, and advise you on property hygiene and contamination problems.

A new Bermuda may be a "cleaner'' Bermuda, but if the public follows the advice given under A) (Points B & C seem biologically sensible) it certainly will not be a safer Bermuda.

DR. A.M. WARE-CIETERS City of Hamilton Why come to Bermuda? September 27, 2000 Dear Sir, Before anyone becomes too excited about so-called "seat sales'' or wonders why our tourism numbers are declining, check the following: British Airways is currently offering return flights from London to various north American destinations as follows (dollar calculated at 1.55 to the pound).

To New York or Washington D.C. $355, San Francisco or Tampa $401 and Los Angeles $417.

So why come to Bermuda? RIPPED OFF ISLANDER City of Hamilton