Forget laws and rules, let
common sense rule instead
Bemidji Pioneer Letter
What has happened to our society and what it values? A woman is
being discharged from the hospital with her newborn baby. The nurses call law
enforcement to tell them there is a warrant out for her, so two squad cars and
a social worker rush over and take her to jail. What kind of awful memory will
that leave with that new mother? Was it really necessary?
A mom on a
no-drink order is seen out in a bar and she goes to jail for three weeks, right
before Christmas and loses her job. Her small daughters are left to be farmed
out to uncaring relatives. “No-drink orders” should not be legal in the first
place. Something that is legal should not ever be made selectively illegal to
“so deemed” individuals by any court. Do we not even respect our Bill of
Rights? Are we so damn busy working and paying off our huge Visa bills that we
have let our lawmakers do whatever they choose?
An elderly man
is caught shoplifting aspirin that he could not afford. He is arrested, sent to
court and given a large fine so he now really cannot afford aspirin. Why? An
elderly woman is fine $100 for no seat belt; again, she cannot afford this
unexpected debt.
What
the heck are we trying to prove? Have our great laws become so much more
important than reason, heart and common sense? Where has our compassion gone?
Why do almost all of our restaurants and food services in Bemidji choose to throw out unsold food
rather than donate it to the poor and the soup kitchen? Why don’t we care
anymore?
Sandy Bean
Bemidji
