LETTERS TO THE EDITOR: Systems are strained | I weed, therefore I am | Oooh ... government

Systems are strained

We continue to make national news as covid cases skyrocket in Arkansas. This unhealthy news is not the kind our state needs. Our governor is doing town-hall meetings actively pleading with people to get vaccines. But why aren't each of our legislators doing the exact same thing? Oh that's right, they are on summer break, and they don't even want to allow a mask mandate, passing a law preventing such!

This is the height of insanity. If lives are to be saved, these representatives need to present the science and bust their own myths. We are already seeing the strain on our health-care systems. And by the way, if anyone still doesn't want to get the vaccine, go ahead and skip it, it is truly your choice. But quit asking our overworked health-care professionals and staffers to save you when you get sick.

RHONDA PATTON

Roland

I weed, therefore I am

I confess. I'm a weeding addict. Well, maybe addict is a little over- descriptive. When a leisurely walk through the garden with a tall glass of something refreshing (fill in your choice of beverage) is abruptly interrupted by the sight of an obvious interloper in my flowerbed, I must act. Loud sirens go off in my head that warn, "There's the little bugger, pluck it out quick before it invites more of its kind to the party!"

True to my mission, I bend with a slight groan (OK, a big groan) and grab the weed, giving it a slow twist, and lift with satisfaction to bring it out of its nice comfy bed of dirt. "Aha, gotcha this time," as opposed to the many times I have come up empty- handed, accompanied by the snap of a taproot that must end in China. I fear it has become a personal battle between the weeds and me. I tell myself the weed doesn't dislike me as intensely as I do it, but it's a battle nevertheless. I must be the victor and one hapless weed is never enough. I go into hypervigilance mode. Beady eyes scanning the rest of the appointed bed for another opportunity to be victorious. No easy way out for me with weed-killer sprays; I'm hopelessly old-school.

Weeding is like taking a deep, cleansing breath. Out goes the bad weed and in comes that feeling of accomplishment and a job well done for another day. I get this obsession honestly. My daddy had beautifully manicured Kentucky Blue Grass in the yard of the home I grew up in. He could spot a weed in that Kentucky Blue from a mile away. My mother was not so much a weeder but a planter. The story goes she had just gotten a new fur coat and, not wanting to take it off, was planting flower bulbs with it on. High heels sinking in the dirt, she would not be dissuaded. Looking back, I can now identify with her determination.

So, upon reflection, being addicted to weeding might not be such a bad thing, especially when long-past gardening genes are a part of the picture.

BEVERLY FLORIDA

Cammack Village

Oooh ... government

Alert to the folks who avoid covid vaccine because you don't trust the government. The I-40 bridge over the Mississippi River is scheduled to begin reopening Monday. Shouldn't you avoid crossing it? After all, it's a government project. Come to think of it, there are probably at least 1,000 socialist-built bridges in Arkansas. Beware!

CHARLIE BISHOP

Mabelvale

A different approach

All the requests for persons to vaccinate against covid I have seen appeal to their better nature. How about an appeal to their baser nature?

Modern commerce is a complicated web of dealers, trade, manufacturers, labor, materials (some pretty scarce and depending critically on trade), and service industries. Anything that interrupts this web produces shortages, and shortages produce inflation. Covid has produced a number of web interruptions with the accompanying inflation, as we have seen. Failures to get vaccinations will almost certainly continue the interruptions of the commerce web and increase the present inflation even more.

However, the situation could be worse. Viruses tend to mutate, so we have the Delta form of covid, among others. Failure to vaccinate increases the odds of more mutation, and that increases the odds of a covid which does not respond to the present vaccination. The new mutation would result in much higher inflation. Inflation can easily run away, and the divided Congress almost guarantees this.

So, if you are a young person and not getting a vaccination, you are gambling with the possibility of not being able to afford to feed yourself, much less own an automobile. If you think that this is an exaggeration, see what inflation can do to a modern industrial nation by studying Germany in the 1920s and 1930s.

OTTO HENRY ZINKE

Fayetteville

Has its own reward

I respect each person's right to get vaccinated against covid-19 or not as they see fit. However, to me, the only valid reason not to be vaccinated is a medical condition where your doctor advises against it. Otherwise, you are just playing Russian roulette where you can easily end up on a one-way ride to the cemetery. If that is your desire, then I cannot find it in me to have any sympathy for you. I can only hope that you have a nice funeral. Stupidity has its own reward.

JOE WHALEN

North Little Rock

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