The Pajaronian welcomes letters. Letters and columns may be dropped off or mailed to the Pajaronian, 21 Brennan St., Suite 18, Watsonville, CA 95076.
Letters should be less than 400 words, and columns are no more than 800 words.
Letters and columns may also be sent via email to [email protected].
All letters and columns must be signed and have an address and phone number for confirmation purposes. We reserve the right to edit and condense all submissions.
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Thank you, community, for your respect
Dear folks of the Pajaro Valley,
In September 1976, I began to work as a nurse at Watsonville Community Hospital. This Dec. 24 was my last shift.
I am writing to say thank you for this life of caring for your new moms and babies. I have been treated by the people of this community with kindness and respect. I have cried, laughed hard and loved much as I have done this work. I carry in this body of mine thousands of stories of those who have given birth, been born, and some who have died here in this valley. Those stories leave me feeling like a rich woman. Were I to choose again, after all these 42 years, how to spend my working life, I would choose this work in this community in a second.
Blessings and thanks.
Heidi Jett
Retired Watsonville Community Hospital Nurse
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Don’t let incompetents (and greed) run our country
To the Editor,
While the rest of the intelligent world is applying common sense through knowledge gained, our “leadership” is taking us back into the coal age and through ignorance (or obsessive greed), is on the path to restoring unhealthy pollution levels. Other actions are taking place that reveal that we have not learned from the past.
Sacrificing the future for immediate monetary gains now, is being selfish to future generations.
How did we let this happen?
Bob Fifield
Aptos
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Words
To the Editor,
It is time to realize that many in this country are the victims of a war of words. I don’t refer to the hyper-sensitive among our youth, who take umbrage at the most innocuous words that somehow trigger their emotions. I refer instead to the constant dishonest attacks against conservatives.
This is a time-proven tactic. In Germany, Hitler turned the opinion of society against those he hated — Jews, Slavs, Catholics, Gypsies — by calling them such despicable terms as “cockroaches.”
Today, words such as “homophobe,” “white supremacist,” “misogynist,” “racist,” “fascist” and many others are routinely hurled at people who despise the values those words connote. This is done to deny their credibility, simply because they are conservative. We should remember that whenever anyone points an accusing finger at another, three fingers point back at the accuser.
During my working career, I held several positions in which so many illegitimate labels were plastered on me that I could joke that the labels almost eliminated my need for clothes. Sadly, none of those who labeled me ever took the time to know me or to know what I actually stood for.
Beware of those who sling such accusations! Their intent is to demean others to increase their own power. Our freedom to live in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave is under threat! Demeaning slogans do nothing to preserve our Democracy! I wonder if those brain-washed to libel others understand what their slogans mean. I often doubt they understand or appreciate living in a Democratic society.
These tactics are frequently employed by Socialist, Marxist and Communist governments to dehumanize “non-party” citizens to increase the power of the ruling clique. This is why so many want to emigrate to the U.S.
For the New Year, 2019, think of one kind thing you can say to every person you meet, whether you agree with them or not. This simple gesture will eventually make a positive difference in this challenging, secular world within which we live.
Geraldine Ridgway
Watsonville
