Just Sayin': Turning 2022 right side up

The past few years have been like none I’ve ever experienced. Hopefully, 2022 will make way for a healthier and happier existence. With new medications and more vaccinations and testing, we can get on with our lives.

I feel like I am in an upside-down world. Everything seems so different. I do a double-take on what I’m seeing. Common sense is ignored. Did we change so rapidly or was there a slow-moving tsunami that would eventually overcome life as we knew it?

What happened to respect for the law? What happened to common civility between strangers whether on airlines or in Congress?

I find myself scared. I know people who can’t understand my fright. I fear the future … for my children and grandchildren. I want common sense and decency to return to the world stage, and humanity reinforced as a right we are all born with. We cannot gamble on our democracy becoming a failed experiment. The world is watching. I do not want to live in a world where what’s good for everyone is no longer recognized. Let’s set the record straight this year — that, once and for all, American democracy will prevail.

Phyllis Weinberger, North Woodmere

A Dem presidential summit is needed

It’s time for every living former Democratic president to meet at Camp David with the present Democratic president, for as much time as it takes, to review and reaffirm the common agenda that they all have worked for. President Joe Biden would be well served by this review, and so would our country.

Perhaps a refocusing of goals and attitudes could help the Democratic Party remind itself of what it stands for and where it wants to go.

The party has always portrayed itself as representing the common people, so let’s see if it can remind itself of where the party came from, and how it can remind its base of how the members will be better off as party members.

— Patrick Ehmann, Ronkonkoma

Credit card fees are bad for business

Restaurants and other businesses that now charge a fee for the customer using a credit card are off my list for future business. Yes, add it to the cost, like any price increase these days. Using a credit card has many advantages, especially for those who fully pay their monthly statements with no interest charges. You have a print record backed up, if a dispute occurs, and you don’t have to carry much cash. This is ridiculous. New York State puts itself in a position of not getting tax money for a cash transaction.

— Robert Casale, Glen Head

Emailing medical info packets saves a lot

People complain about the high cost of health care. Here’s one simple change that could benefit the environment and bottom line. I had a pre-surgical test and received a lengthy state Department of Health booklet about patient rights.

I would consent to having it emailed to me. Do the same for various other guides. Also, email me the summary printed after each doctor visit. When I later discard it, I won’t have to cross out personal information.

Paper and trees are saved as well as the cost of paper and copier supplies. Paper should be given only to those who do not have email or who prefer paper documents.

— Ellen Ladau, West Babylon