Clear a path through the snow for your neighbors
It is important and neighborly to shovel off walkways for members of your community after a snowstorm. Credit: Getty Images/Photo by Katkami
I’ve been taking walks around my Nassau County neighborhood for more than 20 years and continue to be amazed at the number of corner-property owners who don’t shovel a path to the street when it snows. I can either walk around their block like a rat in a maze or take my life in my hands trying to get across. I request that residents please clear the way to the street. And wherever you live, if your neighbors don’t shovel, please pitch in. Get other neighbors to help, send your children out there, think good thoughts. There’s more than one way to keep our county safe.
Elisa Adams,
New Hyde Park
Mourning for the American flag
As I drive through my neighborhood and see Trump banners waving side by side with our beloved American flag, I can’t help feeling that it is now tainted forever for me. In light of the horrific scenes of rioters savagely beating Capitol police and battering windows of the Capitol with American flags still attached to their poles, I know I will never look at our flag again the same way. Years ago, as a Cub Scout den mother, I taught my troop flag etiquette. Some rules of respect that these "patriots" may be ignorant of include not letting the flag touch the ground, not letting it get dirty and not using it as clothing. The red stands for valor, the white for innocence and purity, and the blue for justice. How far we have fallen.
Carol Greenberg,
Coram
Sadly, I finally followed politics
For years, I’m embarrassed to say I never paid close attention to politics and politicians. Every election was full of unkept campaign promises and ads attacking opponents. I always made a point to vote for the candidate I felt was the lesser of two evils. Then, in 2016, former President Donald Trump came along. I voted for him, believing it was time for a non-politician. He really got me to start paying attention. The problem with that is how upsetting it has been seeing what goes on. You can no longer have a civil political conversation with someone whose views differ from yours. To me, a president downplaying a pandemic by discouraging wearing masks and comparing it to the flu was both immoral and criminal. Seeing this kind of behavior on all levels of politics, no matter what party, is disturbing. I just hope that in all future elections we remember how these politicians acted during these turbulent times and vote accordingly.
James Collins,
Floral Park
